Master of Public Administration

The Master of Public Administration (MPA or M.P.A.; also Master of Public Management, abbreviated M.P.M. or Master of Public Policy, abbreviated M.P.P.. ) is an academic degree at Master level in the field of public administration with a strong practical orientation, based on the Master of Business Administration (MBA). In Germany, within the framework of the Bologna Process, the degree is possible as the completion of a non-consecutive or continuing Master's programme. As a rule, the previous completion of a relevant FH diploma or Bachelor's degree and - at least in Germany often - professional experience are regarded as admission requirements for a corresponding Master's degree programme.

The modules of an M.P.M. programme usually relate to issues in the fields of professional leadership development, customer orientation, controlling, human resource management, innovation management, public business administration, international administrative development and sociology of administration, but they differ depending on the university. M.P.M. programs classically place a stronger emphasis on business and management aspects. Programs in the field of public policy also focus on political field analysis and general political science approaches.

In the United States and the United Kingdom, the focus of studies is usually on public policy, project management and program implementation. The degree qualifies students to plan, implement and evaluate the necessary change processes and thereby make administrative structures and processes more efficient and effective.

Due to their education in business administration and management science as well as their in-depth specialist knowledge, graduates can find employment opportunities in, for example, public administration (at all levels of government administration), international organisations, institutions in the non-profit sector, but also in companies, associations and universities. The oldest MPA programme in Europe is the Master of Public Administration at the London School of Economics and Political Science. One of the oldest and most prestigious MPA programmes in the world is that of the Harvard Kennedy School, which served, among other things, as a model for the corresponding degree at the Hertie School of Governance.

In Germany, accredited MPA courses are offered, for example, by the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences, the North Rhine-Westphalia University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration, the Federal University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration (for federal employees and employees from the state administrations) in Brühl near Cologne (since 2017 also with parallel classroom courses in Berlin), the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer, the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy in Erfurt, the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, the University of Kassel, the University of Potsdam, the Berlin School of Economics and Law, the Verwaltungs- und Wirtschaftsakademie (Münster) in cooperation with the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, and the universities of Kehl and Ludwigsburg.

See also

• Administrative Sciences
• public management
• Master of Business Administration