WUPP’s History

The Wharton Undergraduates in Public Policy (WUPP) organization was originally formed as a student-facing branch of the faculty-led Wharton Public Policy Initiative (PPI)/Scholars Program. Following an $11 million donation in an effort to further invest in research at the intersection of business and government sector analysis, the PPI/Scholars Program was established at the advent of the 2012 academic year under a framework that offered research opportunities, public sector internship stipends, and curated policy engagement for undergraduate students.

Gradually, the university's research departments began turning their focus away from student-driven projects and initiatives, resulting in the emergence of a sudden gap within the undergraduate policy community at Penn. Thus, after a successful pitch to the Wharton Council for complete operational autonomy, WUPP would officially become an independent, student-led organization at the beginning of the 2020–2021 academic year. Today, WUPP functions as Wharton’s premier policy-related undergraduate space, leading projects with external clients Governor Shapiro's Office and the U.S. State Department, among many others.