News

This summer, Emma Niewald (MGPS ’26) is putting her global policy training into action over 6,000 miles from Austin, while interning in Skopje, North Macedonia.   Through the Texas Global Embedded Scholars program in the Balkans, she is working with the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) Parliamentary Support Program (PSP), a long-standing initiative focused on enhancing the efficiency of North Macedonia’s legislature and strengthening public trust in democratic institutions.  

The LBJ School of Public Affairs is proud to welcome the newest cohort of Executive Master of Public Leadership (EMPL) students. Learn more about the unique stories, backgrounds, motivations and aspirations of some of the new students.

The LBJ School, in partnership with Polissia National University of Ukraine and the Ukraine Facility Platform, recently cohosted the international workshop A Policy Blueprint for Ukraine’s European Union Integration Workshop: Co-Creating Risk Reduction and Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Agriculture Sector.

For Noah Mata, being a part of the first undergraduate cohort at the LBJ School is more than a milestone, it’s a personal mission. A proud San Antonio native, he’s long been interested in how city government shapes communities and sees public service as the path to help his hometown thrive. 

The Lone Star State has attracted hundreds of corporations with its low-tax, high-touch approach, but the strains are starting to show

Master of Public Affairs student Devarier “Dee” Smith (MPAff ’26) is spending his summer more than 5,000 miles away from the LBJ School in Dakar, Senegal. He is part of the inaugural LBJ Senegal Experience, a new Texas Global program that brought 14 LBJ students to Dakar for internships, language study and cross-cultural exchange. 

This study estimates that historical, future, and hypothetical sequestration-related subsidy losses for Build America Bonds sold by entities in the State of Texas and City of Chicago may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars just for these governments. Public Administration Review Journal Article

For native Texan and proud Longhorn Megan Ramos (MPAff ’28), public policy is a way to strengthen communities and make sure they work for the people who live in them.

This year's Texas legislative session brought an onslaught of bills that would have greatly limited the ability of local governments and school districts to sell debt, but it ended with little change to the status quo. The Bond Buyer

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin is launching a Master of National Security and will welcome its first cohort in Fall 2026. Applications open September 1, 2025.