What universities have the best graduate programs that give out MPAs (Masters of Public Administration)? I’m interested in the best programs in the entire world. Has someone bothered to rank them?
Danke.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: AP can’t find any such international listing. I suppose there are similarities, but I’d also think there are major differences in the concept of “public administration” in different societies, so I’d be a little skeptical of international rankings (if not national rankings as well).
In the ranking-obsessed USA, the magazine U.S. News & World Report puts out annual rankings of U.S. degree programs. In their 2005 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools, in the section on “Public Affairs” (p. 61), under the speciality “Public Management/Administration,” they rank the top five in this order: Syracuse, University of Georgia, Indiana University, Harvard, and University of Southern California. I don’t know which of these places calls their degree an “MPA.” You can find this publication at the Reference Desk in the Bostock library building.