List of Master's Degrees in North America - Public Administration

Public Administration

The Master of Public Administration (M.P.A. or MPA; MAP in Québec) degree is one of several Master's level professional public affairs degrees that provides training in public policy and project and program implementation (more recently known as public management).

MPA programs focus on public administration at the local, state/provincial, national/federal and supranational levels, as well as in the nongovernmental organization (NGO) and nonprofit sectors. In the course of its history the MPA degree has become more interdisciplinary by drawing from fields such as economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, and regional planning in order to equip MPA graduates with skills and knowledge covering a broad range of topics and disciplines relevant to the public sector. A core curriculum of a typical MPA program usually includes courses on microeconomics, public finance, research methods / statistics, policy process and policy analysis, ethics, public management, leadership, planning & GIS, and program evaluation/performance measurement. Depending on their interest, MPA students can focus their studies on a variety of public sector fields such as urban planning, emergency management, transportation, health care (particularly public health), economic development, urban management, community development, education, non-profits, information technology, environmental policy, etc.