In 1951, the Department of Political Science in the school offered its first course in Masters in Public Administration.

In 1984, the college started offering Executive MPA courses, the first in New York City and the second in the United States.

The Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs was established in 1994 with Ronald M. Berkman as the founding dean.

[1] The School of Public and International Affairs was later named after Austin W. Marxe who donated $30 million to the college in 2016.

[5][6] U.S. News & World Report placed the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at 34th nationally in its ranking of MPA degrees in 2019.