Industrial Policy Graduate Certificate: 12 Weeks with Ian Fletcher
Master industrial policy through one-on-one tutorials and recorded lectures from Ian Fletcher, graded papers, and a capstone project. Start any time on a rolling basis.
Rolling admission: start any week that works for you.
Industrial policy is increasingly important across government, trade, and media. No American university has offered an introductory course on the subject. Until now. The program was created with Ian Fletcher, coauthor of Industrial Policy for the United States (Cambridge University Press, 2025).
The curriculum progresses from grounding in economic theory to real-world case studies examining successes and failures across multiple nations. This course requires an introductory but not expert familiarity with conventional economics.
- 12 Weeks
- 1-on-1 Expert Advising
- 100% Remote & Flexible
- World-Class Faculty
Who This Program is Built For
Policy staff and economists
Those drafting the memos, briefings, and options papers that actually move trade and manufacturing policy inside Commerce, USTR, or an economic agency. They need sharper frameworks and direct access to experienced practitioners.
Think tank researchers and analysts
Researchers publishing on industrial strategy who need primary depth on the cases you're probably already citing, plus one-on-one time with a practitioner who has argued these cases for two decades.
Congressional staff
Those briefing a member ahead of a markup or a hearing on trade, appropriations, or commerce, often with a day or two of lead time.
Industry and trade association leaders
Those translating policy shifts for members, who need to argue from inside the debate, not outside it.
Due to the relevance of certain aspects of industrial policy to national security, this course is not available to citizens of nations identified in Section (d)(1) of the State Department's ITAR §126.1 list of proscribed countries, which may be found here.
Meet Your World-Class Professor
Ian Fletcher has spent more than two decades arguing against free trade orthodoxy and for American industrial policy. He serves on the advisory board of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, where he previously worked as senior economist. He authored Free Trade Doesn't Work and co-authored with Marc Fasteau, Industrial Policy for the United States: Winning the Competition for Good Jobs and High-Value Industries, published by Cambridge University Press. He studied at Columbia University and the University of Chicago and lives in San Francisco.
Learn From the Countries That Got It Right, and Wrong
Industrial policy isn't new. From Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures to postwar Japan and South Korea, nations have deliberately built the industries they wanted to win in. Others spent heavily and got little for it.
You'll work through these histories one case at a time, looking at what each government actually did, what it cost, and why it succeeded or stalled, so you have real evidence to draw on when today's debates come up.
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Understand Why Some Industries Matter More
Semiconductors, batteries, aircraft, and advanced machinery don't behave like most industries. Costs fall as production grows, know-how builds up in clusters of firms and workers, and once a country loses an industry, it's hard to win it back.
You'll learn the economics behind those patterns and use them to judge which industries are worth supporting, and which tools fit each one.
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Turn Your Ideas Into Policy People Read
Good analysis only matters if it reaches the people making decisions. Throughout the program, you'll practice turning complex arguments into clear, persuasive writing for legislators, agency leaders, and the public.
By the end, you'll have written two short blog posts on industrial policy and a capstone recommendation paper you can share with colleagues, employers, and the people you hope to influence.
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A 12-Week Certificate For People Writing America's Industrial Policy
Twelve weeks, a world-class professor, and a tutorial built around you.
This is a tutorial program: you start whenever you're ready and move through the material at your own pace. Fletcher's recorded lectures unpack the frameworks, the case studies, and the arguments that actually move policy. Between lectures, you read, write, and test those frameworks against your own work, then bring it to one-on-one tutorials with Fletcher. Four one-on-one advising sessions with Fletcher are included.
Designed for Busy Professionals
- The lectures will all be recorded and can be watched at your convenience.
- You can start any week. There's no cohort calendar to wait for.
- One-on-one tutorial meetings are scheduled to fit your schedule.
1-on-1 Expert Tutoring
Work directly with Ian Fletcher—a national and global leader in industrial policy. He will personalize sessions to your goals, interests, and career.
Accelerated Learning
Recorded lectures, asynchronous readings and materials between sessions, and 1-on-1 advising/tutoring sessions with Ian Fletcher.
Research Meets Policy
Connect your learnings and research into industrial policy directly to policy. Candidates will write two brief blog posts on industrial policy topics, and a capstone policy recommendation paper on one industry/country.
Study from Anywhere
Meet your professors and coach a few times a week via Zoom, Slack, and chat. Spend the rest of your time reading, writing, researching, and putting what you learn to work in the real world.
Powerful Network
The students of this course come from the world of commerce, think tanks, and industry. You join a community of fellow students and alumni you can connect with throughout the program and long after.
Career-Integrated Learning
From day one, your instructor will be connecting your studies and assignments to your intellectual and professional goals.
What You Will Master
The real history of industrial policy
Command of how Japan, South Korea, and Germany actually built durable industrial capacity — and why the UK's Concorde program and Argentina's protectionism didn't. Fletcher lectures each case; you stress-test it in your tutorials.
The free trade debate, from the inside
A working grasp of where free trade orthodoxy came from and where it breaks down, so you can argue the position instead of repeating its talking points. Built through lecture, then defended in your own written work and tutorials.
Fluency in the policy toolkit
Practical command of tariffs, subsidies, and procurement — what each actually does, what it costs, and when it backfires. Covered in lecture, applied to live cases in your tutorials.
A framework for reading current policy
The ability to evaluate reshoring, the CHIPS Act, and China's industrial strategy critically, instead of taking either side's framing at face value. Tested against your own agency's or organization's current work in your tutorials.
The craft of writing for impact
Structuring an argument that survives scrutiny from a principal, a member, or a peer reviewer. Built through direct instruction and refined line by line in your one-on-one sessions with Fletcher.
Your own policy position, sharpened
Four one-on-one advising sessions with Fletcher, built around your actual portfolio — not a generic case study. You leave with a memo that reflects your judgment, pressure-tested by his.
Get Ready to Lead in Industrial Policy
Technical Depth and Strategic Range
You don't just learn the tools — tariffs, subsidies, procurement — you learn when they work and when they don't. Twelve weeks builds both the technical grounding and the strategic judgment to apply it inside a real institution.
A Network for Life
Our students and alumni include federal staff, think tank researchers, and industry leaders. The relationships you build outlast the program.
Recognized Expert Instruction
You learn directly from Ian Fletcher, not a generalist adjunct. Every lecture and tutorial comes from someone who has spent two decades inside this exact debate.
Certified Credentials
You graduate with the Executive Certificate in Industrial Policy awarded by Elton University—a certified 501(c)3 institution that is an expert in evidence-based education and personalized university-level education and research.
Eligibility
To enroll in a master's program or graduate certificate, you need one of the following:
- A bachelor's degree, or
- Some college and 5 years of relevant work experience, or
- Proof of your ability to engage in master's-level study.
No standardized tests are required: no GRE, no GMAT.
Your Investment
Tuition: $2,500
Funding is available for discounted tuition for employees of NGOs, universities, and government agencies residing in countries classified by the World Bank as lower-middle income or below. Please explain your situation in your application.
Certificate Details
12 weeks
10 Hours/Week
- Start any time on a rolling basis
- Recorded lectures with Ian Fletcher
- Join a community of IP experts and professionals
- 4x 1-on-1 tutoring and advising meetings with Ian Fletcher
- Capstone industrial policy paper
