Mission Statement of the MPA Program:
The Master of Public Administration program's mission is to cultivate practical, research-oriented students for careers as reflective practitioners guided by democratic values, integrity, and service.
Program Objectives:
Students will be prepared for careers as managers and leaders in public service if they are able to meet the following objectives (student learning outcomes):
- Students can demonstrate ability to communicate effectively in writing.
- Students will demonstrate comprehension of public policy and program formation as well as the institutional and legal framework of public policy and management.
- Students can demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively orally.
- Students can demonstrate the ability to see patterns and classify information, concepts, and theories in public policy and administration.
- Students can demonstrate ability to use reasoned arguments to judge evidence in public policy and management.
How Are We Doing?
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Graduation Rates
Most of our full-time students complete the MPA degree within 2-2.5 years. The table below reflects our graduation rates for the annual year 2024-2025:
Number of Students Initially Enrolled in the 2024-2025 Cohort Graduated Within 2 Years Graduated Within 3 Years Graduated Within 4 Years Total Students Graduated and Persisting to Graduation 31 10 16 19 22 The table below reflects our graduation rates for the annual year 2023-2024:
Number of Students Initially Enrolled in the 2023-2024 Cohort Graduated Within 2 Years Graduated Within 3 Years Graduated Within 4 Years Total Students Graduated and Persisting to Graduation 25 3 12 14 15 The table below reflects our graduation rates for the annual year 2021-2022:
Number of Students Initially Enrolled in the 2021-2022 Cohort Graduated Within 2 Years Graduated Within 3 Years Graduated Within 4 Years Total Students Graduated and Persisting to Graduation 20 4 11 14 20 The table below reflects our graduation rates for the annual year 2020-2021:
Number of Students Initially Enrolled in the 2020-2021 Cohort Graduated Within 2 Years Graduated Within 3 Years Graduated Within 4 Years Total Students Graduated and Persisting to Graduation 26 18 25 26 26 -
Examples of Positions Held by Recent Graduates
2021 - 2022: Where Do Our Graduates Work?
Career Field # of Graduates National or central government in the same country as the program 1 State, provincial or regional government in the same country as the program 9 City, County, or other local government in the same country as the program 12 Foreign government (all levels) or international quasi-governmental 1 Nonprofit domestic-oriented 5 Nonprofit/NGOs internationally oriented 0 Private Sector - Research/Consulting 2 Private Sector but not research/consulting 5 Military Service 2 Obtaining further education 0 Unemployed seeking employment 1 Unemployed not seeking employment 0 Status Unknown 0 Total Number of Graduates 38 2020 - 2021: Where Do Our Graduates Work?
Career Field # of Graduates National or central government in the same country as the program 1 State, provincial or regional government in the same country as the program 12 City, County, or other local government in the same country as the program 12 Government not in the same country as the program (all levels) or international quasi-governmental 0 Nonprofit domestic-oriented 2 Nonprofit/NGOs internationally-oriented 1 Private Sector - Research/Consulting 4 Private Sector but not research/consulting 3 Obtaining further education 0 Military Service 2 Unemployed (not seeking employment) 0 Unemployed (seeking employment) 0 Status Unknown 2 Total: 39 2019 - 2020: Where Do Our Graduates Work?
Career Field # of Graduates National or central government in the same country as the program 0 State, provincial or regional government in the same country as the program 11 City, County, or other local government in the same country as the program 8 Government not in the same country as the program (all levels) or international quasi-governmental 2 Nonprofit domestic-oriented 0 Nonprofit/NGOs internationally-oriented 0 Private Sector - Research/Consulting 3 Private Sector but not research/consulting 7 Obtaining further education 1 Military Service 1 Unemployed (not seeking employment) 0 Unemployed (seeking employment) 0 Status Unknown 1 Total: 34 2018 - 2019: Where Do Our Graduates Work?
Career Field # of Graduates National or central government in the same country as the program 0 State, provincial, or regional government in the same country as the program 5 City, Council, or other local government in the same country as the program 9 Private Sector - Research/Consulting 1 Private Sector - Not Research/Consulting 1 Obtaining Further Education 1 Military Service 2 Unemployed (not seeking employment) 1 Total 23
Learning Outcomes:
Our program assesses the performance of our students every year using two methods of review. External reviewers and faculty evaluate student performance on a variety of criteria.
The Outcomes Report for the 2020 - 2021 cycle can be found here.