Master of Public Administration

[BSBRose21]

Now that I've completed my Bachelor's Degree, I would like to work towards my MPA.  As a City Clerk, my goal is to eventually become a City Administrator.

Are there any recommendations for this degree - school, etc?  I have been in government for more than 10 years with extensive specialized training but never completed the MPA.

[allvia]

Recent thread on the subject - https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...blic-Admin

[smartdegree]

An alternative to an MPA is an MA in Political Science. Indiana University has one for only $450 per credit hour (total of 30 credit hours). You can choose the IU Bloomington as your main campus. That is a nice brand name on your resume.

https://online.iu.edu/degrees/political-...e,-ma.html

I posted this last year:
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...university

[spohara]

Now that I've completed my Bachelor's Degree, I would like to work towards my MPA.  As a City Clerk, my goal is to eventually become a City Administrator.

Are there any recommendations for this degree - school, etc?  I have been in government for more than 10 years with extensive specialized training but never completed the MPA.

There is an executive MPA from Marywood University for 18 cr hrs - not sure I'd recommend but it is interesting.  You should meet the experience requirement.

There is also an executive MPA from CU Denver.  I am strongly considering this program - 3 courses with partial residency - a one week in-person course, and two one month courses that have a 4 day weekend in residence.  The rest is online.  Very decent looking program and only 30 credit hours with your experience waiving 6 hrs of electives. NASPAA accredited.

[bjcheung77]

@BSBRose21, have you done a search and/or have a shortlist of schools you're interested in? Do you have a budget you're looking at? Any other details you can provide us that can help us 'search' for you? Such as the length of term is no more than 24 months? Competency based?

[wildebeest]

To the schools I mentioned in the thread linked above, I'll also add University of Illinois Springfield here. It's a top 100 program and very affordable. They also offer an online DPA that nobody talks about, I assume, because it's a synchronous cohort model. Anyway, I only found out about them because I was looking into doctorates, as I'm nearing the end of my master's program (by which I mean I'll be finishing in December, not in the next month or two), and their DPA is very appealing, as its both affordable and does not require campus visits (as Old Dominion and Valdosta State do). (I have no interest in the online-only schools that offer degrees in this field.) Their MPA looks good on its own, but especially consider it if you think you might want a doctorate at some point.

https://www.uis.edu/publicadministration

Also, although I mentioned it in the linked thread, EIU (where I'm currently going) has been very good, and there is some crossover with faculty that also teach at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. That said, it's an MA in Political Science with a concentration in Public Administration and Policy, not an MPA. In my experience, the classes available are wider ranging than a lot of MPAs. You could essentially create an MPA or MPP program for yourself out of available courses, but it's, on paper, an academic rather than a professional degree, which has its pluses and minuses.

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Oh, one more that might be worth mentioning is Fort Hays State University, but only because of the price. It's a Master of Liberal Studies with a concentration in Public Administration and costs <$10,000.

https://www.fhsu.edu/mls/conc/conc-publicadmin/

If price is a huge factor, I think Arkansas State is the better option, but everybody's got different priorities.

[FireMedic_Philosopher]

The 18-credit Marywood Executive MPA has been discontinued. Possibly because folks realized it was only 18 hours??

In it's place they DO have an 18 hour executive MA in Nonprofit Management. It looks like the courses are about 90 percent the same...

So no more 18 hour MPA, hello 18 hour MA

[cc95]

The 18-credit Marywood Executive MPA has been discontinued. Possibly because folks realized it was only 18 hours??

In it's place they DO have an 18 hour executive MA in Nonprofit Management. It looks like the courses are about 90 percent the same...

So no more 18 hour MPA, hello 18 hour MA

Looks like the degree is titled: Executive Nonprofit Leadership and Public Management (ENLPM)

Could potentially be a better marketing tool, since it's not limited to govt.

[bjcheung77]

It's best to always have more info, so, here's the details for the program...
Link: https://www.marywood.edu/nonprofit-leade...gmt-degree
Tuition: https://www.marywood.edu/affordability/tuition/cost

[Leedeedee]

If you don't mind a European degree, you can get a Masters in Public Administration from Guglielmo Marconi University,(Rome, Italy) via UniAthena for between $4600 & $5600, depending if you fast track or flexible track it.

https://uniathena.com/master-in-public-administration

I'll probably go for it once I've completed the programs my employer is paying for.