SF Bay Area MPA or distance....

[curried]

I've been out of college for about 6 years and have been steadily working my way up the career ladder in the non-profit finance field. While I have made it quite far, especially for my age/time working, looking ahead I realize that having a graduate degree would be a huge benefit to me. I am currently looking for MPA/possibly MPP programs that fit me needs. I would consider the right MBA program if it focused on nonprofit management/finance.

That being said here is my dilemma: I am located in the SF Bay Area for work and I plan to continue to work full-time (or near full-time) while pursing a grad degree. I have a great job and leaving it, in my opinion, is not a good idea. I worked full-time throughout my undergrad so this is no biggie. The problem is that the great schools in the Bay Area, Berkeley-GSPP and Stanford, only offer full-time programs. The other schools that offer MPA/MPPA programs in the Bay Area (SF State, SFU, Mills..) are obviously not on the same level. I am wondering if certain distance MPAs from "better" schools might be a smarter choice.

Right now I am looking at the online MPAs at USC, Indiana-SPEA, and Northeastern. Are there others of there that might be better? It is difficult to get over the stigma of getting an "online" or blended degree and I wonder if anyone else who has considered this has any thoughts. Also, does anyone have any knowledge of University of Victoria's (Canada) online MPA and/or blended MA in Community Development.

[CeciWhite]

I graduated 10 years ago.. time flies!

I have dedicated this time to raising a family. Now that my children are starting school, it's time for me to begin my career. Since my little girls are still very young, I also wanted a part time program.. I applied to CSU - Sacramento for that very reason.

Although it's a step down from my ivy league undergraduate, I thought it would be a good way to jump-start my career. I did consider some online alternatives but since I want to pursue a government job, the connections with people at the capitol would be valuable to me.

What did you decide? Where did you apply/get accepted?