The heart of NYU Wagner's programs is our faculty. An amalgam of full-time, clinical/research/visiting, and adjunct professors, they are outstanding teachers, expert researchers and committed practitioners.
The heart of NYU Wagner's programs is our faculty. An amalgam of full-time, clinical/research/visiting, and adjunct professors, they are outstanding teachers, expert researchers and committed practitioners.
The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service is home to research and policy centers, institutes, and initiatives that focus on solving urban problems and strengthening public policy and public service nationally and around the world.
Ranked #6 in Public Affairs by U.S. News & World Report, the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service educates the future leaders of public, nonprofit, healthcare and private sector organizations addressing the world's critical issues.
Students arrive at NYU with the desire to serve the public. They leave with the skills and experience to bring about change. Combining coursework in management, finance and policy with cutting-edge research and work experience in urban communities, the NYU Wagner education will enable you to transform your personal commitment into public leadership.
Whether in their first or last semester, students at NYU Wagner have many resources to help them navigate their way to graduation.
NYU Wagner's Office of Career Services (OCS) provides students and alumni with the resources needed to build successful public service careers. Explore our resources for Job seekers and employers.
Welcome to the Wagner Alumni WebPages, where you can find information about resources for alumni from the school, join the Wagner Alumni Listserv and much more.
Read about news and ideas from NYU Wagner faculty and alumni and keep in touch with interesting and useful events at the school.
To submit a Capstone proposal, visit wagner.nyu.edu/capstone/capstoneapp.php.
Capstone is learning in action. Part of the core curriculum of the Masters program at NYU Wagner, it provides students with both a critical learning experience and an opportunity to perform a public service. Over the course of an academic year, students work in teams – either to address challenges and identify opportunities for a client organization or to conduct research on a pressing social question. Ultimately, Capstone contributes not only to the students' education, but also to the public good.
Capstone teams are comprised of three to five NYU Wagner graduate students completing the last two semesters of their Master of Public Administration degree or their Master of Urban Planning degree. Students come to NYU Wagner with a wide variety of professional and educational backgrounds: They are seasoned professionals with years of public service behind them, recent college graduates committed to bettering the future or mid-career professionals who want to advance or shift their career paths. Yet for all their differences, they are united by the common desire to acquire the skills necessary to transform their personal commitment into public leadership.
Click here to review a sampling of past Capstone Projects.
You must complete and submit a project proposal for consideration. Beginning in March 2012, proposals for the 2012-2013 academic year must be submitted online through the electronic application.
For the 2012 - 2013 academic year, project proposals are due May 25, 2012.
All teams will develop and negotiate a scope-of-work agreement with their client once their proposal has been selected. Project teams will use their best efforts to perform the services described in the work plan and will inform the client of any potential problems which would change the scope of services. Client agencies agree to provide the assistance and access to information necessary for the Capstone Project team to perform effectively.
Organizations should also read our Mutual Expectations document, which explains the roles and expectations of the various project stakeholders – clients, students, faculty, and NYU Wagner – that are understood during a Capstone project.
An engagement fee of $5,000 is suggested for chosen projects. NYU Wagner recognizes there will be organizations for which this fee may be prohibitive. In these cases, the fee may be adjusted to reflect the resources available to each agency.
For internationally-based clients, Wagner will consider the provision of accommodations and in-country support for a Capstone team in lieu of the engagement fee. Please note that international site visits should take place sometime between December 26, 2012 and January 26, 2013. (While projects are 8-months long, students are only available to travel overseas during their winter break).
For domestic clients outside of NYC that require overnight stays to conduct research, Wagner will consider the provision of accommodations in lieu of the engagement fee.
The best Capstone proposals are important but not urgent; achievable within the academic timeframe and with the resources available; provide a clear definition of the problem or issue to be addressed; have a realistic scope; and specify tangible deliverables for the Capstone team to provide. We look for organizations that have been operating for at least three years, have at least three full-time employees, and can offer a mutually beneficial opportunity for the agency and the student team.
Submitted proposals are first vetted for feasibility and fit within Capstone's guidelines and NYU Wagner's learning objectives and curricular areas of focus. Then, approved proposals are distributed to the Capstone faculty for review, who may contact prospective clients for clarification on the scope of projects. The faculty select projects that will be presented to their classes where the students choose which projects they are interested in working on. Clients are then notified whether their projects have been chosen by a Capstone Team.
We receive more proposals than we have student teams. As a result, there is no guarantee that a proposal will be chosen. However, some projects that have not been chosen for Capstone have been downsized and "chunked" in order to be converted into internship opportunities for Wagner students.
All Capstone clients must designate one person in their agency who will act as the project liaison. Project liaisons are expected to act as the main organizational contact to the Capstone Team and to respond to the Capstone Team as appropriate. The time that a Project Liaison will devote to the project will depend on the size and scope of the Capstone project as agreed to by both the organization and team.
Capstone clients will have the opportunity to attend a Capstone breakfast meeting in October and our Capstone Expo in May. As part of the Capstone Expo, each Capstone Team will be required to write an abstract and create a visual presentation that describes the project's purpose, methodology, key insights and recommendations.
The final work product is owned by the Capstone client organization. However, NYU Wagner reserves the right to publicly list the organization as a Capstone client, to keep copies of all Capstone teams' final reports for review by the Wagner community, and to include a brief project description in Capstone promotional materials. Furthermore, students will be allowed to use the work produced for their Capstone client in pursuit of their educational or professional careers.
Should you have any additional questions about the Capstone Program, please send an email to wagner.capstone@nyu.edu, or call 212-998-7474.
“In our process of envisioning new opportunities for knowledge sharing that could help to strengthen the school reform community in New York City and nationally, our Capstone team's research was an invaluable resource.”
New Visions for Public Schools
read moreIn a survey of recent Capstone clients:
86% said they were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their Capstone team experience
84% said the tools and resources developed by their Capstone team were useful or very useful
Visit the online application form.
Download the Capstone Proposal Guidelines(pdf).