Students interested in IPAW typically enter the program at the end of their second year at IU, although some start at the end of their junior year, completing the program in one year, and some are admitted as first-year students to participate in speaker events or the summer lab. The program is flexible about prerequisites, although it is helpful to have taken POLS 205 or some Math or Statistics classes. The most-important qualification is an interest in political analytics.

In their third year, IPAW students take two graduate-level classes in quantitative methods (the first one can be omitted if it duplicates prior coursework). In their fourth year, IPAW students take the capstone seminar (Political Analytics) and complete a graduate class in political science. Political Science majors who write a seminar paper in the graduate class can use this paper to graduate with Honors in Political Science. Students who enter IPAW as seniors complete all of the program requirements in their fourth year.

IPAW students are also eligible to participate in a (paid) summer research lab between their junior and senior years. The program also helps students secure paid internships outside IU. We are also developing a research seminar for first-year students.