Master of Public Administration
MPA Program Purpose and Goals
Purpose
The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program combines a commitment to academic excellence with a concern for the applied aspects of public administration. It integrates theory, research, and practice in public administration in a manner that develops and enhances leadership skills, administrative capabilities, and management practices.
UW-Oshkosh MPA students gain advanced knowledge and top-notch training in managing governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, healthcare organizations, and other public service organizations. The program content strengthens analytic skills, ethics, accountability, responsiveness, and public service leadership capacity.
The MPA program strategic goals and objectives are guided by the program’s directional strategies.
Distinguishing Features
- Long History: Inception in 1972
- Start Any Time: Fall | Spring | Summer
- Fast Time to Degree Completion: As Few As Two Years or Less
- Uniqueness: The ONLY 100% Online MPA Program in Wisconsin | Launched in Spring 2017
- Number of Online MPA Graduates since Spring 2020: 109
- Mode of Class Delivery: Asynchronous
- Course Duration: 7-weekly sessions and a 14-week session for the Capstone Project.
- One of the Most Affordable MPAs in the UW System: Tuition and Fees
- Credit-for-Prior Learning: Accepted
- Experienced Faculty in the Field: Meet MPA Professors
- Comprehensive, NASPAA-Oriented Curriculum: 36 Credits (27 Core +9 Electives)
- Practitioner-Orientation: Choose from Four Emphases
- Unique Emphasis in the Midwest: Fire and Emergency Administration & Management
- Transfer of Credits: Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy/others
- Diverse Student Population: Mid-career and early career
- Diverse Student Geography: Wisconsin and beyond
- Small Class Sizes: Max of 20 students per class
- GRE or GMAT Tests: Not required
- Community Engagement Opportunities: The Whitburn Center
- Strong MPA Alumni Network: MPA Mentorship Program
- NASPAA Membership: UWO MPA is an Associate Member of NASPAA
MPA Learning Goals and Outcomes
The MPA program at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is guided by the core values of academic rigor, collaboration and community engagement, collegial work environment, democratic principles, integrity, productivity, professional success, and student-centered and inclusive environment. It has three major learning goals and outcomes:
- Students will demonstrate broad-based knowledge of theory, research, and practice in public administration, management, leadership, and policy directly applicable at professional levels in public, non-profit, and health care organizations.
- Students will demonstrate well-developed critical thinking, problem-solving, and research skills in addressing contemporary problems or issues in the public interest.
- Students will demonstrate strong, positive interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively with a diverse constituency both individually and in group settings.
The UWO MPA program is an Associate member of National Associations of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). Its curriculum and learning outcomes closely reflect and follow NASPAA’s required universal competencies; the latter are used in MPA program assessments and program reviews.
“The required competencies include five domains: the ability
- to lead and manage in the public interest
- to participate in, and contribute to, the policy process;
- to analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems and make evidence-informed decisions in a complex and dynamic environment;
- to articulate, apply, and advance a public service perspective;
- to communicate and interact productively and in culturally responsive ways with a diverse and changing workforce and society at large” (Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation, 2024, pp. 7-8).
Source: Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation. (2024). Accreditation standards for Master’s degree programs. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/thVpO.