Public Administration, MPA

The Master of Public Administration M.P.A. degree emphasizes professional education for future public service leaders. The degree responds to the needs of tomorrow’s managers and policy analysts by offering a variety of fields in which a student can gain substantive focus while obtaining training in public administration and policy.

Students have access to Syracuse University’s graduate courses as well as those at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Working with faculty and advisors, students have ample opportunity to create an individualized appropriate programs of study.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate competence in the public-sector budgeting process, including being able to design and produce a flexible budget for a government or nonprofit organization; and apply concepts and measures of efficiency, equity, and adequacy to the evaluation of government revenue policies

2. Identify core competencies necessary for helping to shape the organizational environment (broadly defined) in which they operate and for managing individuals, groups, clients, and programs

3. Analyze various market scenarios to assess how goods and services will be allocated, and assess the efficiency and distributional impacts of government intervention in markets

4. Use data to produce and interpret a range of descriptive and inferential statistics; analyze the strengths and weaknesses of statistical techniques used in policy analysis, management analysis and research; and develop recommendations for improving quantitative analyses

5. Assess the conditions under which certain managerial tools may be applied to improve programmatic results and overall organizational effectiveness

6. Effectively summarize, appraise, and communicate technical and professional information, through both oral and written media

MPA Degree Overview

The MPA degree requires a residency of 12 to 18 months. All students begin the program in early July. Full-time students usually complete the program the following June, but students should inquire about our 18-month option that can incorporate a summer internship in applied public policy.

The MPA degree requires 40 credits of coursework. 25 of these credits satisfy core requirements, ensuring proficiency in economics, quantitative analysis, organization and management theory, public budgeting and finance, and the political context of public management.

Additional elective coursework satisfies the remaining 15 credits. These elective courses are selected from the public administration and international affairs department, other Maxwell School social science departments, or elsewhere in the University.

Flexible degree requirements allow a student to design a program in state and local government, data analytics for public policy, financial management and analysis, public and nonprofit management, international development administration, environmental policy and administration, international and national security policy, health management and policy, and social policy while completing the MPA core requirements.