What is the MITx MicroMasters credential in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy?

The MITx MicroMasters program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy is an online program designed by MIT’s Department of Economics and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) to equip learners with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing developing countries and the world’s poor.

The program consists of online courses administered via the MITx Online Learning Platform. To complete the program and earn the DEDP MicroMasters Program Credential, a learner must pass and earn the MicroMasters Course Certificate for five courses corresponding to one of the Program Tracks, as described below.

Two Tracks to Complete the DEDP MicroMasters Program Credential

The DEDP MicroMasters Program offers two different Tracks to complete the Program Credential, the International Development Track and the Public Policy Track.

International Development Track: This Track applies the tools acquired in the Core Courses to explore issues prevalent in societies experiencing massive and persistent poverty. The Track offers the Elective Courses Challenges of Global Poverty, Foundations of Development Policy, and Political Economy and Economic Development. These courses delve into the key questions asked by scholars studying poverty today, using real-life empirical examples from low- and middle-income countries. They examine topics like determinants of decisions made by low-income households, the value and impact of microfinance, and the relationship between economic development and political institutions.

Public Policy Track: This Track builds upon the tools acquired in the Core Courses to address a range of public policies. The Track offers the Elective Courses Good Economics for Hard Times and Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy. These courses tackle various policy issues, encompassing local policies—like minimum wage & employment, food stamps & consumer welfare, and the economics of risk & safety regulation; as well as global issues—such as trade, climate change, and immigration. They provide insights into the forefront of public policy debates.

DEDP MicroMasters Program Completion Criteria

To complete the DEDP MicroMasters Program and earn the Program Credential, learners must earn the Course Certificate for five DEDP courses, depending on their chosen Program Track.

To earn the Course Certificate for a DEDP course, a learner must enroll in a session of the course, submit payment of the course fee to upgrade to the Verified/Certificate (Paid) enrollment track, complete the online coursework—comprising lectures, short quizzes, homework assignments, and a Comprehensive Review—complete the Proctored Final Exam at the end of the course session, and earn a passing Total Course Grade. For more information about earning a Course Certificate, please refer to this FAQ article.

All DEDP learners must pass all three Core Courses:

Core Courses

• 14.100x Microeconomics
  
  
• JPAL102x Designing and Running Randomized Evaluations
  
  
• 14.310x Data Analysis for Social Scientists
  
  

All learners must also pass two of their chosen Program Track's Elective Courses.

Elective Courses

International Development Track (choose 2 of 3)

• 14.73x The Challenges of Global Poverty
• 14.740x Foundations of Development Policy
• 14.750x Political Economy and Economic Development

Public Policy Track (complete both)

• 14.009x Good Economics for Hard Times
• 14.003x Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy

Benefits

Learners who successfully complete the DEDP MicroMasters Program will earn a MicroMasters Program Credential in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy, and may become affiliate members of the MIT Alumni Association.

Learners who earn the MicroMasters Program Credential may also pursue several pathways to a graduate degree at MIT and other institutions. At MIT, learners are eligible to apply for admission to the MIT Economics Master’s Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy. If accepted, students will be able to pursue an accelerated on-campus Master’s degree at MIT, earning MIT credit for their MicroMasters program courses.

How to Enroll

There is no formal application or admission process for the DEDP MicroMasters Program. Instead, learners are encouraged to enroll in individual courses as their schedule permits. MicroMasters courses are offered on the MITx Online platform—to set up your accounts and get enrolled in the DEDP Program, please refer to this FAQ article. (Existing DEDP learners should use this FAQ article instead)

In addition to an MITx Online account, you must set up a MicroMasters Portal account in order to calculate your DEDP Personal Price and submit payment. The articles linked above will guide you through creating both accounts. Additionally, you will gain access to the MicroMasters Portal Community Open Discussion Forum and we will be able to provide support in regards to basic account information, such as enrollments. The MicroMasters Portal Community Open Discussion Forum is hosted on open.mit.edu and allows paid DEDP learners across the program to discuss course strategies, study resources, and other topics. The DEDP MicroMasters team will also post updates and interesting resources.

Course Pricing

The Data, Economics, and Design of Policy MicroMasters program offers personalized pricing. The price of courses is determined for each learner based on the learner's ability to pay.

After you have an MITx Online account, you can calculate your DEDP MicroMasters Personal Course Price by visiting a DEDP course page on MITx Online and clicking the "Financial assistance available" link in the Course Infobox.

You will be prompted to enter your financial information—and you may be required to submit financial documentation—to calculate your personalized course price. If you calculated your Personal Course Price in the past, and your financial information has changed, please let us know, and we will reset your financial calculator.

A breakdown of course pricing is presented below. You can also learn more about course pricing and how to pay for DEDP courses in our helpful FAQ.

Annual Household Income:

• $0 - $25,000 : $250 USD per course
• $25,000 - $50,000: $350USD per course
• $50,000 - $75,000: $500 USD per course
• Over $75,000: $1,000 USD per course
• A limited number of $100 course price coupons will be awarded by lottery each term to those who earn less than $10,000 USD. For more information please visit our FAQ page. 

Start Now and Pay Later

You are also welcome to start by auditing courses for free and upgrade to paid, Verified status at a later point! If you plan to sit for a course’s Proctored Exam at the end of a term, you must submit payment for that course session before the term’s Payment Deadline, but if you complete a course on the Audit track, you can re-enroll in a future session of the course and submit payment to take the Proctored Exam at the end of that session.

When you complete a DEDP course (either on the Audit or Paid track) the Course Score you earn is saved on your DEDP Program Record. This means that if you miss the Payment Deadline for a course, or you aren’t able to submit payment during a specific term, you can still complete the coursework up through the Comprehensive Review.

You can then enroll in a future session of that course, submit payment for it, and sit for its Proctored Exam at the end of the session. If you already achieved a Coursework Score that you are happy with from your Audit-track enrollment, then you can choose to simply not re-do the coursework. Or, if you wish to improve your Coursework Score, you can choose to re-do all of the coursework. The highest Coursework Score you earn will be combined with the highest Proctored Exam score you earn to calculate your Total Course Grade. For more information, please refer to this helpful FAQ article.

Course Availability and Schedule Planning

The MITx MicroMasters program in Data, Economics, and Development Policy offers courses during three terms per year: Spring, Summer, and Fall. 

Each course is offered between one and three times per year. The Proctored Exam for each course is available only at the end of sessions of that course. For more details, please refer to this helpful FAQ article or the Upcoming Dates page of the DEDP site.

Course Order and Prerequisites

The DEDP MicroMasters courses may be taken in any order, but in general, the DEDP team recommends that learners new to the field begin with the required core courses 14.100x Microeconomics and 14.310x Data Analysis for Social Scientists, as they will form a helpful foundation for the other DEDP courses.

There is no required course order, though, and depending on your background, schedule, and goals, you may take the courses in whatever order or combinations work for you. For more information about recommended course order, please refer to the FAQ article Do you recommend specific DEDP courses to get started?

As the program’s courses are graduate-level, they do require that learners possess comfort with several foundational academic skills. The DEDP team recommends that learners be prepared in several important topic areas for each course, including single- and multi-variable calculus, linear algebra, and probability and statistics. The program team has also prepared a Course Preview for most courses, to help you discover if you are prepared. For more information please refer to this helpful FAQ article.

For more information relating to the program, please review the DEDP section of our helpful FAQ site. After review, please contact us again if you have any further questions.

MicroMasters Program Credential Benefits

Learners who successfully complete all required online courses and their respective Proctored Exams will earn a MicroMasters Program Credential in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy and may become an affiliate members of the MIT Alumni Association.

Please note that MITx MicroMasters programs are not degree-granting programs and MicroMasters courses do not carry academic credit on their own. A number of universities across the globe have partnered with MITx MicroMasters to offer pathways to a graduate degree, as described in the next section. These pathways allow learners who have earned a MicroMasters Program Credential to achieve a full graduate degree more quickly than usual by granting credit for the MicroMasters courses completed or waiving some requirements of the graduate program.

Pathways to a Master's Degree

Learners who receive the MicroMasters program credential may also pursue several pathways to a graduate degree at MIT and other institutions. At MIT, learners are eligible to apply to the MIT Economics on-campus Master’s program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy. If accepted, students will be able to pursue an accelerated on-campus Master’s degree at MIT, earning MIT credit for their MicroMasters program courses.