As we understand it, social policy is an interdisciplinary social science discipline whose primary aim is to analyze social responses to social needs. As a problem-oriented discipline and activity, social policy combines sociological, economic, legal and social work knowledge.
Our MA Programme aims to train social policy practitioners who, based on their theoretical and methodological knowledge, can participate in policy-making in the field of social policy, manage and contribute to the operation of the care system, represent social interests, and theorize, research, and teach social and social policy. The program focuses on the European Union and the European social model, embedding it in a global context.

Specializations

There are no specializations, but students can tailor their learning path to their interests as they have a choice to take seven out of the eleven courses of the electives: Health Policy, Pension Policy, Employment Policy, Family Policy, Social Assistance, Welfare Services and Administrative Systems, Education Policy, Child Protection, Child Well-being, Social Gerontology, Disability Policy, Housing Policy.

Strength of program

The program has been running successfully in Hungarian for over thirty years and has always been among the most popular at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Its founder was Zsuzsa Ferge, Professor Emerita, a full Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and former President of the Union of the Social Professionals Organizations.
The program’s popularity is due to the curriculum’s continuous development and incorporation of student feedback into the education organization.
The ideal social policy expert has multidisciplinary knowledge and skills. They should be familiar with many policy fields in and outside social policy itself; they should understand human nature and behaviour and the rules and constraints of the surrounding economic and political world. Practising the profession requires thematic and analytical knowledge as well as presentation skills. Social policy analysis and planning are value-driven activities centred on a commitment to the values of equality and solidarity between people and unconditional respect for human dignity.