Program Overview

Introduction to the Capstone Program

The Capstone program is a core part of the Master's curriculum at NYU Wagner, providing students with a critical learning experience and an opportunity to perform a public service. Over the course of an academic year, students work in teams to address challenges and identify opportunities for client organizations or to conduct research on pressing social questions.

Capstone Program Details

• The program brings together teams of graduate students to work on complex challenges for nonprofit, governmental, health-related, urban planning, and international agencies.
• Project teams approach their assignments with initiative and professionalism, organizing and framing their projects into a thorough work plan that results in a carefully considered final product.
• Every team produces a written report and conducts a final presentation of their findings and recommendations.

Capstone Team Composition

• Capstone teams comprise 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 from a wide variety of professional and educational backgrounds, united by the desire to acquire the skills necessary to transform their personal commitment into public leadership.

Program Timeline for Clients

• March 19, 2025: RFP process begins. All organizations interested in a Capstone project must submit a Capstone proposal online by the deadline.
• May 30, 2025: Deadline for proposal submissions.
• June - July: Proposals are vetted and distributed to Capstone faculty for review.
• July - August: Faculty reach out to prospective clients for clarification on the scope of projects and then select projects that will be presented to their classes.
• Mid-August: Prospective clients are notified if their proposals have been chosen to move on to the next phase of the selection process.
• September: Capstone projects are presented to students in their classes, and the students choose which projects they are interested in working on. Clients are notified whether their projects have been chosen or not.
• October: Breakfast meeting for all Capstone clients.
• April-May 2026: Capstone projects conclude with client presentations.

Types of Capstone Projects

• A Capstone team may conduct a literature review, perform an environmental scan, develop an operational framework to streamline workflow, develop a financial model, or put forth policy recommendations, among other things, culminating in a final report and presentation.

Application Process for Capstone Clients

• Organizations must complete and submit a project proposal for consideration.
• Proposals must be submitted online through the electronic application.

Project Proposal Submission

• The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the academic year opens on March 19, 2025.
• The application deadline for the academic year is Friday, May 30, 2025.

Project Selection Process

• Prospective Capstone clients respond to a request for proposals (RFP) in the spring by submitting their applications through the online portal.
• All proposals are vetted by Wagner administration and viable projects are offered to Capstone faculty for comment and selection.
• At the start of the fall semester, Capstone faculty present a slate of possible projects to students in their section, and based primarily on student preferences, faculty assign students to projects in teams of three to five students.

Client Expectations

• Each student team will develop and negotiate a scope-of-work agreement with the client once its proposal has been selected.
• The project team will use its 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.
• The client agrees to provide the assistance and access to information necessary for the Capstone team to perform effectively.

Engagement Fee

• 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 clients located outside of NYC that require overnight stays to conduct research, NYU Wagner will consider the provision of travel and accommodations in lieu of the engagement fee.

Characteristics of a Good Capstone Project

• The best Capstone proposals are important but not urgent; achievable within the academic time frame 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.
• Organizations should 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.

Project Proposal Selection Process

• 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 respective classes at the start of the academic year, and the students rank projects by their interest level.
• Clients are then notified whether their projects have been chosen by a Capstone Team.

Guarantee of Selection

• There is no guarantee that a proposal will be chosen by a student team, as more proposals are received than there are student teams.
• However, if a project is not chosen, the organization will be given the opportunity to convert the project into an internship opportunity for Wagner students.

Project Liaison

• All Capstone clients must designate one person in their agency who will act as the project liaison and a back-up person in case of a change in circumstances that prevents the original liaison from continuing in the role.
• 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.

Formal Capstone Client Activities

• Selected Capstone clients are invited to attend a Capstone Client Breakfast meeting in October.
• Each Capstone Team will be required to write an abstract summarizing the project's purpose, methodology, key insights, and recommendations, which is published in the annual Capstone Booklet.

Ownership of Work Produced

• The final work product is typically owned by the Capstone client organization.
• However, if chosen as a client, the organization agrees that Capstone students retain the right to summarize the work produced for their Capstone client in pursuit of their educational and/or professional careers.
• Furthermore, the organization agrees that NYU Wagner may publicly list the organization as a Capstone client, use the client's logo in outreach materials, keep copies of all Capstone teams' final reports for internal administrative purposes, and include a brief project description in its Capstone promotional materials.

International Capstone

• Students in international specializations across the degree programs are given the opportunity to travel to conduct intensive field work for an outside organization.
• International site visits typically take place during the students' winter break when they are not in class.
• Through the unique summer-fall Capstone offering, when it is offered, students begin Capstone in the summer, complete 3-4 weeks of field work throughout June-August, and return to New York for the fall semester.
• 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.