MPA/MPP Curriculum

The curriculum of U.S. graduate programs, including MPA/MPP programs, consists of core and elective courses. Core courses are classes that you must take in order to qualify for the MPA/MPP degree. These courses are designed to provide each student with

Concrete skills and knowledge in policy analysis
Skills and knowledge in the area of public management
An understanding of the public sector and institutional context

Elective courses are courses that are offered by MPA/MPP or other related graduate programs, which you can choose from depending on your policy interest and specialization. It is the elective courses that determine your concentration field within an MPP/MPA program. Usually MPA/MPP programs require you to take three elective courses to qualify for the specialization (social policy, policy analysis, non-profits, health policy, economic development and etc) of your choice. Depending on your specialization area elective courses may cover different themes including but not limited to social policy, economic development, national security, non-profit management, local governments, environmental policy, regional planning, agricultural policy and information technology.

In recent years, the MPA and MPP core curricula have also overlapped and blended and look increasingly similar. The MPA core often emphasizes management courses, and explorations of public organizations and budgeting. The MPP often features economic analysis and quantitative courses to build analytical capacity to effectively solve different policy problems. But exceptions abound, and the best advice is to look carefully at an individual degree program’s core curriculum on their website. The more pronounced difference is between MPA/MPP degrees and the international affairs (IR) degrees. The IR degrees typically have international relations, international economics, and international law courses in their core.

In the past the MPA and MPP programs in the U.S. have had a more domestic public policy/management focus in the core. However, rapid and sustained increase in globalized flow of ideas, people and goods have led to the internationalization of public policy and management issues and MPA/MPP curricululum. As a result almost all of the MPA/MPP programs provide core courses dissecting or related to globalized public policy and management issues.

Sample Core Courses in MPA/MPP Programs

MPA emphasizing Management and Leadership	MPP emphasizing Analysis and Management
Public Affairs Colloquium Public Budgeting Public Administration and Democracy Managing Public Organizations Managerial Economics for Public Managers Introduction to Statistics Quantitative Analysis MPA Workshop Executive Leadership Policy Politics Summer internship.	Microeconomic Analysis (two courses) Political Analysis (one course) Data Analysis and Evaluation (two courses) Ethical Analysis (one course) Policy Analysis (two courses) Public Management and Leadership (two courses) & Summer internship.
MPA emphasizing Administration	MPP emphasizing Analysis
Ethics in Public Administration Communication Skills for Public Managers Public Administration and Democracy Public Personnel Administration Public Finance Economic Foundations of Policy Analysis Organizational Theory Research Methods Data Applications & Summer internship	Mathematics for Public Policy Public Management The Political Environment Quantitative Methods Benefit-Cost Analysis Microeconomics for Public Policy Law and Public Policy Policy Research Seminar Ethics and Public Policy & Summer internship.