PhD in Public Affairs

[Dwar]

Hey Guys,

So I know that most of the public affairs/public policy programs and grad schools specializes in MA degrees, but I am wondering if anyone knows of or has rankings for PhD in public affairs programs? To specific, PhD programs that do not require a MA degree to apply, I know that those types are even rarer in Public Policy programs. 

The obvious choice would be the Woodrow Wilson one, but seeing as thats at Princeton and is a reach, having backups or other options would be awesome!

Thanks a bunch! 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Dwar

[ravanana]

I don't know of a PhD ranking for public policy and administration programs (for the same reason you mentioned), if I were you, I would look to rankings for MPA/MPP programs and then check the faculty at those institutions to determine research activities and background for the professors. I would also consider relative ranking of other departments at the university as you would benefit from a diversity of courses to broaden your academic study in a PhD program.

I can speak to NYU's Public Administration program (offered through NYU Wagner) because I am a current MPA student. At NYU Wagner, the faculty come from a diverse array of academic and career fields (business, government, social sciences, econ, etc), and the curriculum reflects this. A vast majority of the faculty have PhDs and many are very active in research and work closely with students who serve as research assistants. Wagner makes it easy for students to take courses across the university as well, which means that students have access to researchers at the top of their field across many departments (NYU has high rankings across the board). 

https://wagner.nyu.edu/education/degrees/doctorate-public-administration 

Edited January 29, 2019 by ravanana
Add link to website

[Dwar]

4 hours ago, ravanana said:

I don't know of a PhD ranking for public policy and administration programs (for the same reason you mentioned), if I were you, I would look to rankings for MPA/MPP programs and then check the faculty at those institutions to determine research activities and background for the professors. I would also consider relative ranking of other departments at the university as you would benefit from a diversity of courses to broaden your academic study in a PhD program.

I can speak to NYU's Public Administration program (offered through NYU Wagner) because I am a current MPA student. At NYU Wagner, the faculty come from a diverse array of academic and career fields (business, government, social sciences, econ, etc), and the curriculum reflects this. A vast majority of the faculty have PhDs and many are very active in research and work closely with students who serve as research assistants. Wagner makes it easy for students to take courses across the university as well, which means that students have access to researchers at the top of their field across many departments (NYU has high rankings across the board). 

https://wagner.nyu.edu/education/degrees/doctorate-public-administration 

Thank you for your advice! I did look into that program and while it does look awesome and something that I'd love to participate in, in the FAQ's it says that nearly all students enter with previous graduate work or a graduate degree. Seeing as I plan to try to do grad school straight out of undergrad, that kind of requirement really makes the degree unattainable. 

Thank you so much for the advice and program recommendation though! 

[ravanana]

@Dwar Don't let the website dissuade you, the reason they say "many students have previous graduate work or career experience" is more due to the financial structure of the masters programs and the types of students that seek public administration, public policy, and urban planning degrees.-- these degrees are usually terminal, so you're looking at people who are (generally) not academics.

To clarify-- Public administration and public policy PhDs are less popular and generally have a higher contextual element/tighter focus than political science degrees. While there's plenty of room for exploration, there is a certain level of assumed knowledge or focus with those degrees-- and it usually has to do with a working knowledge of the field rather than an academic understanding of mechanisms and processes. Unlike poli sci, administration is interested in how things actually work or why things fail where political science's focus on systemic processes and mechanisms (of course poli sci is explored in PA/PP, but usually as a practical guide for making change happen). In any public administration school, you're probably going to be asked for applied knowledge: "how would you or have you used this in the workplace, tell me about a time when...," this is why many programs steer toward working professionals or people who have recently exited the workforce and are looking for a new path or a credential to get a better job. 

Specific to NYU (why "many students have work experience")- The MPA program features a lot of current working professionals and people who may have worked for a few years (read: peace corps volunteers and political organizers/field teams) before deciding to go back to school. The reason for so many people with work experience is because many organizations foot the bill for their employees' education at Wagner. While PhDs are fully funded by the university, the vast majority of masters-level full-time students are privately funded by external donors/scholarships or personally funded/on loans. 

Specific to NYU (growing young-20s student base)-Wagner has a growing population of students coming straight from undergrad-- I did when I began in 2017 and a larger proportion of the 2018 cohort came straight from undergrad study than previous cohorts, they also launched a dual degree program for NYU undergrads, so the number of people in their young 20s in the MPA program has definitely grown over the past few years. I can't speak to the experience or CVs of PhD students in the department, but I can tell you that the Wagner community is welcoming to people coming straight out of undergrad.

Happy to discuss NYUs program with you further/answer any specific questions you may have. Feel free to DM me!

[ExponentialDecay]

 it says that nearly all students enter with previous graduate work or a graduate degree. Seeing as I plan to try to do grad school straight out of undergrad, that kind of requirement really makes the degree unattainable. 

Firstly, read carefully: it's not a requirement. It clearly says you can apply without one, but that most accepted students have one. 

Secondly, if your standard for an attainable program is one that says "we love kids out of undergrad, please apply out of undergrad", you won't find any programs to apply to. PP is not an academic field. PhDs in this field all (ime) have prior relevant work experience, a master's degree, and often both. Most policy PhD programs are designed for working professionals who want to get the PhD done with and move back into industry or who want to use the PhD to move into public policy academia (which is extremely rare). There is virtually no academic employment for PP PhDs, so they are structured fundamentally differently to academic PhDs. They're not preparing you for academia, so they're looking for people who can get a non-academic job. That's usually not fresh undergrads.

I don't know anyone doing this out of UG, but I haven't looked and maybe they exist. But if you're going to apply, I think you need to realize that this degree isn't like most other PhDs.

[Dwar]

On 2/1/2019 at 10:45 AM, ExponentialDecay said:

 

 

Firstly, read carefully: it's not a requirement. It clearly says you can apply without one, but that most accepted students have one. 

Secondly, if your standard for an attainable program is one that says "we love kids out of undergrad, please apply out of undergrad", you won't find any programs to apply to. PP is not an academic field. PhDs in this field all (ime) have prior relevant work experience, a master's degree, and often both. Most policy PhD programs are designed for working professionals who want to get the PhD done with and move back into industry or who want to use the PhD to move into public policy academia (which is extremely rare). There is virtually no academic employment for PP PhDs, so they are structured fundamentally differently to academic PhDs. They're not preparing you for academia, so they're looking for people who can get a non-academic job. That's usually not fresh undergrads.

I don't know anyone doing this out of UG, but I haven't looked and maybe they exist. But if you're going to apply, I think you need to realize that this degree isn't like most other PhDs.

Thanks for the advice!