Best Online Master’s in Public Administration Degrees in 2023

Although general leadership skills can be applied in the public and private sectors, managing a nonprofit organization comes with its own set of unique challenges. Students in this specialization learn how to tackle these challenges through classes in effective nonprofit leadership, government regulations for nonprofit organizations, and grant writing.

Those who are interested in a career in health services organizations or public health agencies can enroll in this concentration in order to learn how to plan, organize, and manage health-related programs. Specific coursework may cover health care law and ethics, strategic communication methods, finance and budgeting, and leadership skills.

Students who are interested in applying their skills to helping the global community can enroll in this concentration to learn how public administration principles are applied on an international scale. The specific classes may cover national security, foreign policy, intercultural communication, and diplomacy.

This specialization provides a look at what it’s like to work in local government administration. Students may learn about parks and recreation management, urban planning, waste management, and budgeting.

This concentration is for students who are interested in human rights issues in the government, as well as in private companies and nonprofit organizations. Students who choose this area take classes about humanitarian policies, human rights advocacy, the politics of reconciliation, and genocide prevention.

Addresses planning strategies that professionals use to overcome the complicated challenges that organizations may face. Coursework covers engagement processes, environmental analysis, and organizational transformation. In addition, students may learn how tactics and strategies differ and when the use of each one is appropriate.

Students learn about how arts and cultural administration work in nonprofit organizations, as well as government agencies. Specific topics may include the history of arts and cultural administration, and how the arts affect the economy and the people who consume them. In addition, there is a discussion of the different types of arts and cultural organizations and how they are managed.

Introduces the different ways research is conducted and how studies are designed and executed, as well as how results are written up and presented. Students may learn about the principles of quantitative and qualitative research methods, and the computer programs that are used to compile and analyze data.

Students learn the fundamental concepts of how projects are managed, including determining project scope, time management, project design, and the different roles that workers take during the length of a project. Also, the course helps students understand how these ideas are applied in private companies, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

No matter where those with MPA degrees decide to spend their careers, sustainability will be a concern as organizations are increasingly looking for solutions to decrease their footprint. This course introduces students to the theories of sustainability management and how organizations create an environmentally-sound workplace.

Discusses the relationship between ethics and good governance, and the consequences leaders face when they go against these principles and behave in a corrupt manner. In order to illustrate the concepts taught in class, students may be required to read case studies that outline examples of good ethical leadership, as well as ethical failures.

This course provides a look at how budgeting is handled in government agencies on the local, state, and federal level, as well as in nonprofit organizations. Topics may include debt management, cost-benefit analysis, tax policy, and expenditures.