Program Overview

Introduction to the Master of Public Administration Program

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at the Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs is designed to provide students with the practical skills and deep understanding of public service necessary to lead government, nonprofit, and private sector organizations. The program is fully accredited by the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA) and is ranked among the best in the nation.

Program Details

The MPA program requires a minimum of 42 credits for those with at least 1 year of administrative experience and 45 credits for those required to complete a three-credit internship. The degree requires the following components:

• 8 core classes (24 credits)
• 5 electives (with option to specialize, 15 credits)
• 1 internship course (if required; 3 credits)
• Capstone (3 credits)

Core Courses

All students in the MPA program complete eight required courses and are required to earn a minimum grade point average of 3.0. The core courses include:

• PAF 9100 Introduction to Public Affairs
• PAF 9103 Communication in Public Settings
• PAF 9120 Public and Nonprofit Management I
• PAF 9130 Economic Analysis and Public Policy
• PAF 9140 Budgeting and Financial Analysis I
• PAF 9165 Race, Inequality and Public Policies
• PAF 9270 Data Collection and Description
• PAF 9271 Data Analysis for Public Service or PAF 9272 Causal Analysis and Inference

Electives

Students complete five elective courses chosen in consultation with an advisor. Many electives are offered every semester, and students have the option to specialize in one of the following areas:

• Health Care Policy
• Nonprofit Management
• Policy Analysis and Evaluation
• Public Management
• Social Justice
• Urban Development and Sustainability
• Climate Change

Specializations

Each specialization requires 9 credits of elective coursework, with the remaining 6 credits taken from other graduate electives. The specializations are designed to provide students with in-depth knowledge and skills in a specific area of public administration.

Health Care Policy Specialization

The Health Care Policy specialization is designed for those who want to make a difference in health and healthcare delivery systems. Students will gain a firsthand understanding of how to analyze, implement, and evaluate responsive health policies at the local, state, and national levels.

Nonprofit Management Specialization

The Nonprofit Management specialization will help students think like a nonprofit leader, focusing on fundraising, decision-making, emergency preparedness, and ethics and philanthropy. This specialization prepares students for roles as nonprofit board members, managers, executive directors, or chief financial officers.

Policy Analysis and Evaluation Specialization

The concentration in policy analysis and evaluation is designed for students interested in developing analytic skills that can be applied across a broad array of policy topics and arenas. Students will learn about policy development and implementation from both theoretical and practical perspectives, at all levels of government and policymaking.

Public Management Specialization

The Public Management specialization prepares students by focusing on human and capital resource issues, changing venues of public management, and sound practices of institutional representation. Students who pursue this specialization are often nominated as finalists to competitive fellowship programs like the New York State Public Management Institute and the Presidential Management Fellows Program.

Social Justice Specialization

The Social Justice Specialization helps students develop the academic and applied skills to analyze structures and systems driving inequality, injustices, and exclusion, and to develop policies and strategies to create and sustain a just and equitable society.

Urban Development and Sustainability Specialization

This specialization evaluates sustainability in urban centers from a social, economic, and environmental perspective. Students learn how cities can improve and sustain housing, land use, business activity, and infrastructure. Program graduates often pursue roles with community organizations, nonprofit advocacy groups, and government sustainability agencies.

Climate Change Specialization

The Climate Change Specialization equips students to analyze the complex interplay of environmental, social-political, economic, and technological factors driving climate change and its far-reaching impacts. Students will gain skills to develop, analyze, and evaluate actions and policies meant to prepare society for the consequences of climate change.

Internship and Capstone Requirements

Students without prior professional experience will also complete an internship in a public, nonprofit, or private sector organization. In their final semester, all students take the Capstone Seminar, which emphasizes the application of knowledge and skills to specific professional situations.

Learning Goals

The MPA program is designed to help students achieve the following learning goals:

• Use management and leadership theories to analyze the design, operation, and governance of public and nonprofit organizations.
• Identify alternative policy options and assess their potential feasibility and effectiveness.
• Use social science methods to analyze, evaluate, and draw valid conclusions from data relevant to public policy questions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the public interest in an assignment.
• Exhibit an awareness of strengths and weaknesses in verbal and written communication and articulate a plan to maximize communication effectiveness.

Online MPA Program

The Marxe School Online Master of Public Administration provides students with a fully online, flexible, and affordable degree for employment in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. The program has the same goals and mission as the campus-based Baruch Master of Public Administration, but gives students the opportunity to complete their degrees in an online, asynchronous format. The online program requires a minimum of 42 credits for those with at least 1 year of administrative experience and 45 credits for those required to complete a three-credit internship. Students take one course per 7-week session, with two 7-week sessions offered during the Fall and Spring semesters. Two courses are offered during the summer semesters over a 10-week session. The degree takes just about 2.5 years to complete, or 31 months or less.