[Financing the MPP/MPA]

In my opinion, the decision to go to a lower ranked (by usnews, presumably) school offering money is dependant on the type of employment you want to have after graduation. If you want to work in the corporate or international sectors, for example, you would need to go to a top-ranked school to have a shot at getting a job. If you plan on working for local government or an NGO the ranking of your school may not be as important, if at all. In either case going to a low ranked private school that doesn't offer you money will almost certainly be a mistake from a long term financial standpoint.

[Cornell CIPA]

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[Financing the MPP/MPA]

The relevant portion for most of us is that the program would forgive the remaining loans of those in "public service" positions after 10 years of qualified payments (rather than 25), although I assume most people would have paid off the balance by then, thus gaining no real benefit. One thing I have wondered about is how much of debt load the typical mpa/mpp grad student takes on, which rarely seems to be mentioned here or elsewhere. Because the mpa degree is considered "professional" in nature, it is rare to recieve full funding, even though the projected salary of an mpa graduate is much lower than that of many of the other "professional" degrees. I have been offered a 75% tuition fellowship by the only school of heard from thus far, but I will still have a substantial debt load, due to the cost of living without employment. I have gotten the impression that even having 75% of your tuition paid is not typical, with most people receiving less or even nothing at all (and I do not expect to receive the same generous package from other schools.) What is everyone's take on this?

[Cornell CIPA]

Is anyone familiar with the reputation of Cornell's public affairs program? I am aware that it doesn't have as strong a reputation as Columbia and Syracuse, for example, and is only ranked 35th overall by usnews (although I have been told by several people in the industry that the usnews mpa rankings are essentially worthless, being based on very limited information.) In any event, Cornell seems to be a relatively new program, but the resources and connections there are amazing and they have a very interdisciplinary approach (so one would be taking courses in the econ and poli sci departments, both of which are highly ranked.) Cornell's list of recent graduates' employers is also very impressive. Additionally, it would seem that the Cornell name would carry more weight in some areas than a Syracuse type program, for example. I would appreciate hearing any feedback people may have on this program.