Welcome to the Pardee RAND Graduate School

Tomorrow’s toughest and most urgent problems need a new kind of problem solver. They need Pardee RAND — and you.

What Sets Us Apart

The Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, California, is the nation’s largest public policy Ph.D. program. It’s also the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

  • Tools and Technology

    Acquire a wide range of data collection and analytic skills to address complex policy challenges, and harness technology to develop creative solutions.

    Learn more about Tools and Technology

  • Experience

    Gain two years of full-time policy research experience at the independent, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and develop a professional portfolio.

    Learn more about Experience

  • Real-World Impact

    Apply your expertise to research, inform, influence, and lead smart decisionmaking in diverse policy and research careers.

    Learn more about Real-World Impact

  • Freedom

    Graduate with little or no debt, thanks to generous scholarships and research fellowships that cover tuition and living expenses and let students work on RAND research of their choice.

    Learn more about Freedom

Join Us

Pardee RAND students share two attributes: a passion to help change the world for the better, and the discipline to master intellectual tools that will help them do so.

Application Deadline

7 Jan

Apply now

Pardee RAND Insights

The latest research, news, and events from students and faculty.

  • Books in prison, concept of freedom of thought, photo by tapui/AdobeStock

    Alumni Event: Expanding Education and Employment Opportunities for Inmates and Ex-offenders

    Sep 21, 2019

    Contributions to the Alumni Impact Fund are helping RAND researchers advance education opportunities and career prospects for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. All alumni are welcome to join us for a brunch discussion with Professors Lois Davis and Priscillia Hunt and other current AIF recipients.

  • World map in red pixels on a dark background, photo by Lidiia Moor/Getty Images

    Are States Using Cyber Operations to Coerce Others?

    Sep 17, 2019

    Cyber operations have become another tool of statecraft. Have any cyber operations sponsored by Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea met the definition of cyber coercion? Krystyna Marcinek (cohort '17) and colleagues explore this question and consider what the United States should do to counter it.

  • Healthcare, opioid epidemic and drug abuse concept with the map of USA filled with oxycodone and hydrocodone pharmaceutical pills on the American flag, photo by Victor Moussa/AdobeStock

    Alumni Event: Solving the Opioid Crisis

    Sep 12, 2019

    Alum Brad Stein (cohort '97), Prof. Beau Kilmer, and other RAND experts discussed their efforts to model the comprehensive opioid ecosystem and help reverse the tide of this critical challenge. Dean Susan Marquis moderated the discussion.

  • Lauren Buitta, founder of Girl Security, and RAND's Jenny Oberholtzer, Stacie Pettyjohn, Becca Wasser, and Ellie Bartels host a wargame for girls, July 2019, photo by Dori Gordon Walker/RAND Corporation

    Findings Features Students' Summer Activities

    Sep 10, 2019

    In addition to highlighting Soledad O'Brien's generous gift in support of inclusion, diversity, and equity, our quarterly newsletter shines a spotlight on what our students did this past summer to Be the Answer at home and around the world.

Upcoming Events

Our Graduates at Work

Schuster Sees Parallels between Pardee RAND and His New School

As the founding dean of the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, alum Mark Schuster (cohort ’91), sees similarities between his school and Pardee RAND: both are freestanding schools, take a hands-on approach, and are redesigning education in their fields.

Learn more about Schuster and all our alumni

Find out if Pardee RAND is right for you

Pardee RAND seeks students with superior communication, logical reasoning and quantitative skills, who also exhibit intellectual power, creativity, and a practical bent.

The Ideal Candidate

Admissions Events