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The mission of the nationally-ranked Master of Public Administration (MPA) at the AU School of Public Affairs is to prepare students to lead with distinction in programs that serve the public good, both in the U.S. and abroad. Accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), our program delves into the prime components of leadership in public and nonprofit organizations, the realm of public policy, and the analysis of issues critical to public administration today.

Tailored to Your Goals

AU’s MPA program offers a flexible learning environment that allows you to align your degree with your interests. Some of our eight concentrations offer optional focus fields that allow for even further specialization. These personalized toolkits build upon and showcase areas of expertise on your resume, online portfolios, LinkedIn, and other social media profiles.

Access Powerful Networks

You’ll learn from world-renowned scholars whose expertise spans public administration, management, and policy. Our students master contemporary administrative, management, and leadership best. They hone their analytical, decision-making, and communication skills, and learn to navigate organizational, human resource, and budgetary challenges while managing complex programs. What’s more, AU’s prime location in the nation’s capital offers students singular access to internship opportunities and policy makers. These direct connections to the nation’s change-makers, along with our extensive alumni network, will quickly open doors.

Get Ready to Lead

Ranked 4th in Public Management and Leadership by U.S. News and World Report, the MPA program positions you for leadership and executive roles in public agencies, national and international nonprofit organizations, and private firms. If you want a degree that will equip you to drive change and craft solutions to today’s most pressing challenges in public administration, AU’s MPA is the one for you.

Concentrations

Nonprofit Management

Nonprofit organizations play a substantial role in the formulation and delivery of public services. This concentration introduces students to a variety of general management practices used in the nonprofit sector: defining organizational missions; building effective governance structures; acquiring resources; maintaining high standards of fiscal, legal, and professional accountability; managing human resources; and thinking strategically. More broadly, this concentration educates you in the many administrative challenges faced by small community-based or large professionalized organizations in today's "networked economy," where organizations increasingly interact, compete, and collaborate with other service providers, policymakers, and regulators.

• Arts Management Focus
  This focus, a joint effort of the School of Public Affairs and the Department of Performing Arts, prepares students for the administrative work associated with the presentation of music, theater, and other arts.

International Management

Washington, DC is at the center of an increasingly interdependent global network of trade, communication, and security. This concentration helps you understand the nature of management responsibilities that bridge different cultures, including those involving foreign relations, international organizations (including NGOs), and social and economic development. Students interested in this concentration may also take courses offered in AU’s highly-regarded School of International Service (SIS).

Public Management

This concentration strengthens the knowledge and skills of people called upon to work as line managers or administrative support staff in public service organizations.

• Management Consulting Focus
  People with expertise in public administration are often asked to analyze and reform organizations as external consultants, internal auditors, or members of special task forces. This focus helps students exercise the responsibilities associated with management consulting and institutional change.
• Human Resources Focus
  Developing human capital is critical to promoting organizational effectiveness—successful leaders recognize the importance of managing and motivating their workforces. This focus helps you understand the strategic role of human resource planning, develop skills that prepare employees for change, and improve management and employee relationships.

State & Local Administration

This concentration prepares you for the political and administrative intricacies of delivering public services in an increasingly intergovernmental context. Students are encouraged to include at least one relevant policy course and as many budgeting and finance courses as possible.

Public Financial Management

Program analysts, financial officers, budget officers, and financial analysts are found at all levels of national, state, and local governments. They administer and design programs, prepare and analyze budget proposals, evaluate programs, forecast revenues, collect taxes, allocate monies, advise legislators, inspect programs, and prepare financial statements. This concentration equips you to handle the many responsibilities involved with the management of public programs, operations, and funds.

Policy Analysis

More and more people are performing policy analysis, evaluating public programs, or conducting research on behalf of the public at large. By merging required MPA management courses with selected courses from our Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree, this concentration combines knowledge about the administrative functions essential to policy analysis with the skills necessary to conduct the actual studies.

Public Policy

This concentration combines the management and leadership strengths of the MPA program with policy courses for students interested in general policy or a particular policy area.

• Social Policy Focus
  This focus teaches you how to utilize governmental and nongovernmental tools to address challenges imposed by poverty, hunger, educational deficiencies, unemployment, and discrimination.
• Health Policy Focus
  This focus gives you the skills to tackle the issues confronting policymakers and analysts working on health and related topics in the U.S. and around the world.
• Environmental Policy Focus
  This focus equips you to work with policymakers and analysts on environmental challenges across the globe and here in the U.S.
• Science & Technology Focus
  This focus gives you the knowledge and competencies to handle scientific and technological issues confronting policymakers and analysts.
• Education Policy Focus
  The education policy focus teaches students how to utilize governmental and nongovernmental tools to address challenges imposed by poverty, hunger, educational deficiencies, unemployment, and discrimination.

Applied Politics

The Applied Politics concentration incorporates two fields offered through the School of Public Affairs. The first field covers politics, campaign management, and lobbying, and serves students who want to influence the course of government through the electoral or political process. It draws upon the educational programs offered by the SPA’s Campaign Management Institute and Center for Congressional & Presidential Studies. The second field encourages students to think strategically about the challenges confronted by policymakers concerned with women’s issues. It addresses women, public policy, and political leadership, and draws upon courses offered through the school’s nationally-renowned Women & Politics Institute.

Race, Policy, and Administration

This concentration enables students to examine the role of race and ethnicity in public policy and administration. Topics of study include: racial disparities in policy making, implementation, public management, and outcomes for citizens at the local, state, and federal levels; diversity and inclusion strategies in policymaking and public administration; and the role of race in key policy areas (including urban, housing, justice, health, and education policy). Several courses also explore race as a social construct and the political, historical, and economic roots of racialization.

Cybersecurity Policy and Management

This concentration prepares students to understand, analyze, and manage the dynamics of the cyber policies that are critical to effective governance across public agencies, levels of government, and in nonprofit organizations and contracting agencies. The concentration courses will include the history, development, and management of U.S. cyber policy, and a range of frameworks that can be used to facilitate and protect the flow of information and communication through sound cyber policies designed to enhance the success of organizations and public services. Professors Sasha O’Connell and Jocelyn Johnston provide faculty advising on this concentration