Master’s degree
in Public Administration (MPA)

Degree Type

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Study Options

On Campus
Online
Hybrid
Virtual

Expand Your Career in the Public Sector

As a pre-service or career professional, the MPA degree program will supply you with the appropriate mix of requisite skills and knowledge needed for key positions in public service, non-profit organizations, or social enterprises.

Public administration master's students have the option to develop a depth of knowledge within one or two areas of concentration:

Public Affairs, Relations, and Policy Concentration – Learn to effectively navigate public interest and perception in policy and decision making.
Non-Profit Management Concentration – Build expertise in vital operational aspects of nonprofit management, exploring areas such as program budgeting, nonprofit fundraising, and nonprofit leadership.
Executive Leadership Concentration – Cultivate the leadership skills you need to drive organizational success. Focus on leadership through a cultural and contemporary lens, as well as organizational change and conflict resolution.

The Curriculum

Master of Public Administration students are given broad exposure to the field of public administration through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary core curriculum that integrates theory with practice and emphasizes application of acquired knowledge in a real-world setting. This curriculum can be engaged with on campus in New York, online, or a combination of both.

See the Curriculum

Featured Course

Strategic Development and Management of Programs and Policies

Using a team-based approach, this capstone seminar provides a “living laboratory” designed to give students the opportunity to engage in real-world situations in public management, policy development, program assessment, or non-profit management. They are expected to demonstrate the ability to analyze, think critically, evaluate, solve problems, and make decisions in the public interest while incorporating professional codes of ethics. An open Request for Proposal process will be established to solicit client-based capstone projects each semester. This compulsory capstone project is a group effort; students work in supervised teams to carry out their analysis and research. Each team’s project proposal is reviewed and approved by a committee consisting of the capstone instructor and members of the MPA faculty. Each student (team member) submits a reflection paper about their learning experience in the MPA degree program.

see the course catalog

Careers in Public Administration

Graduates of the Master of Public Administration online program are well-prepared for positions such as finance manager or director, budget analyst, financial analyst, policy analyst, human resources manager or director, executive director, public relations and fundraising manager, market research analyst, or urban/regional planner, among many other in the public and non-profit sectors.

The goal of the MPA degree program is to graduate competent, ethical practitioners who will lead and manage while serving the public to effect positive change locally, nationally, and abroad.