The MPA program is a professional degree and a graduate degree for the public sector and it prepares individuals to serve as managers, executives and policy analysts in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in the non-governmental
organization (NGO) and non-profit sectors; it places a focus on the systematic investigation of executive organization and management. Instruction includes the roles, development, and principles of public administration; public policy management and implementation.
MPA graduates currently serve in some important positions within the public sector including Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, former CIA Director David Petraeus, former president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Mexico Felipe Calderón, Foreign Minister of Serbia Vuk Jeremić, Chairman of the World Toilet Organization Jack Sim, former New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, former Treasurer of Australia Wayne Swan. Other notable MPA graduates include Bill O’Reilly and pilot Chesley Sullenberger.
Master of Public Administration can be acquired at various institutions. Listed down are some of the known programs.
- Indiana University–Bloomington (O’Neill)
- The University of Georgia.
- Harvard MPA Program.
- The University of Washington.
- Arizona State University.
- The University of Southern California.
- George Washington University.
- Nanyang Centre of Public Administration, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- The University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
- School of Public Affairs and Administration (Rutgers-Newark)
- Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg School of Public Affairs
- Texas State University Department of Political Science