Online Master of Public Administration Degree

Summary statistics for online Master of Public Administration degrees in the United States for 2024:

• There are at least 131 online Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs
• 94% are fully online and have no required campus visits
• 39% are professionally accredited by NASPAA, the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration
• The average tuition for an online Master of Public Administration degree is $27,491
• Total tuition ranges from $9,975 to $87,156
• Emergency / Disaster Management is the most commonly offered concentration / specialization, followed by Healthcare Administration, and Criminal Justice

Additional information about the Master of Public Administration degree

The MPA is the public sectors equivalent to the private sectors MBA. The degree is a professional degree that prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state, and federal government, and increasingly in non-governmental agencies (NGO) and non-profit sectors. The degree teaches students about executive organization and management.

The core curriculum of a typical MPA program usually includes courses on microeconomics, public finance, research methods / statistic, policy process and policy analysis, public financial management, managerial accounting, ethics, public management, leadership, planning & GIS, and program evaluation / performance measurement.

Depending on their interests, MPA students can focus their studies on a variety of public sector fields such as urban planning, emergency management, transportation, health care, public health, economic development, urban management, community development, education, non-profits, information technology, environmental policy, cultural policy, and criminal justice.

According to Payscale, the average salary for a worker with a Master of Public Administration ranges from a low of the mid-$40,000 to a high of $140,000, depending on the occupation. Highest salary opportunities are for Executive Directors and Director of Operations positions. See Payscale.com on MPA Salaries for more information!

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