Only a few years belated, but I wanted to point out to any future GradCafe readers that UGA is an exceptional school and has been repeatedly performed at high levels in a number of Public Administration/Public Policy fields.
First of all, the program isn't what I consider regional. Job placement out of the program is nationwide with about 2/5ths of students leaving Georgia after graduation for jobs in DC, other states, or international jobs. There are also over 10% of international students enrolled in the program that often return to their home countries to work in high levels of government.
While rankings certainly aren't everything, the US News rankings really highlight the strength of the faculty at UGA. The professors at this university are renowned scholars in the fields of finance, management, and policy. This ranking is backed up further by UGA recently being named the number one worldwide leader in Public Administration publications by an international study conducted by the University of Rotterdam in 2014.
Lastly, I would not pigeon hole UGA’s program to local government. In addition to the diverse backgrounds of the scholars within the program, there are strong relationships with other UGA programs such as Higher Education, Nonprofit, and Public Health that allow students to take additional classes for specializations. The strength of policy can be seen in the programs' yearly invitation to the Fels Policy Challenge at the University of Pennsylvania. Here UGA MPA program students are pitted against other top tiered schools including Harvard, the University of Washington, Columbia, Princeton, University of Texas Austin, Georgetown, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, among others. Despite the stiff competition, UGA has placed as finalists for several years in a row.