NASPAA Student Simulation Competition: Reforming the U.S. Health Care System Within a Simulated Environment

In 2014, NASPAA (Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration) partnered with the Rippel Foundation to hold the first NASPAA Student Simulation Competition, built on the ReThink Health simulation platform. The competition took place at five sites and involved 181 graduate students from 93 institutions. Students used the simulator in small teams to craft longterm policy solutions to problems facing the U.S. health care system. This article describes how the competition came to be, identifies key stakeholders, describes the environment that made the competition a reality, explains the simulation model, details the planning and logistics for each competition site, lists the materials that turned the simulation into a learning experience, and speculates about implications of this competition and the role for simulation- based exercises in public management and public policy education.