Brown / Taubman & Penn / Fels & Cornell / CIPA

[kc10]

From reading this forum and doing research it seems like these 3 programs are similar.

1. each program is at an Ivy League school

2. each program is ranked a little lower in the US News rankings than some State U programs (not badmouthing State U). But this board thinks the USN rankings for public affairs / IR should be heavily discounted?

3. Fels and Taubman are both smaller programs (not sure about CIPA) compared to HKS and the like.

What would be the distinguishing factors at these three programs for someone who wants to get an MPA and will take a chance or two on an Ivy League "reach". I am not completely sure of policy focus either, except I'm leaning towards domestic policy vs. IR or international development.

[narius]

All three are known as programs with a more domestic focus.

Good to discount USN rankings -- they're even less credible for public affairs than usual, since they're based solely on peer review. That means they can be gamed really easily through a branding campaign.

Fels is quite a bit older than Taubman and CIPA (one of the oldest public affairs programs in the country), but is unique in that it traditionally had a more state/local focus than other older programs. Specifically, Pennsylvania. That has to do with its original benefactor, Samuel Fels, who had that put in their founding charter. It's not nearly the regional program it used to be, but those are pretty clearly its roots.

Taubman is similar in the sense that it's small and was clearly founded with benefactor money, but it's quite a bit newer and lacks the same sense of place as Fels (which is housed in Samuel Fels' mansion on campus). But both programs are clearly small and don't seem to intend to grow larger (class size-wise) as a deliberate strategy.

CIPA is small, too, but more because they're the youngest (if I recall). They, however, do seem like a program with ambitions to eventually be one of the bigger programs. Also, they don't seem to be particularly concerned about focusing only on domestic politics.

Each of these are pretty well-respected programs, though they may not have the names that HKS/SIPA have. I know personally that Fels has longstanding career pipelines into government jobs in PA, NJ, NY, and DC as well as in public sector consulting. But I don't know about Brown or Cornell. Another nice/unique thing about Penn is that they allow students to take classes anywhere in the university, which means Fels students often do electives at Wharton or Penn Law or Penn Design (etc.) and vice-versa.

[Eclectic4]

Hello Everyone,

It is great to see the good posts about MPA's. On this site I have seen a lot less about Penn's Fels. I got into Fels, Sipa, and one mba program.

What are your views on the professional potential of a degree from Fels?

All three are known as programs with a more domestic focus.

Good to discount USN rankings -- they're even less credible for public affairs than usual, since they're based solely on peer review. That means they can be gamed really easily through a branding campaign.

Fels is quite a bit older than Taubman and CIPA (one of the oldest public affairs programs in the country), but is unique in that it traditionally had a more state/local focus than other older programs. Specifically, Pennsylvania. That has to do with its original benefactor, Samuel Fels, who had that put in their founding charter. It's not nearly the regional program it used to be, but those are pretty clearly its roots.

Taubman is similar in the sense that it's small and was clearly founded with benefactor money, but it's quite a bit newer and lacks the same sense of place as Fels (which is housed in Samuel Fels' mansion on campus). But both programs are clearly small and don't seem to intend to grow larger (class size-wise) as a deliberate strategy.

CIPA is small, too, but more because they're the youngest (if I recall). They, however, do seem like a program with ambitions to eventually be one of the bigger programs. Also, they don't seem to be particularly concerned about focusing only on domestic politics.

Each of these are pretty well-respected programs, though they may not have the names that HKS/SIPA have. I know personally that Fels has longstanding career pipelines into government jobs in PA, NJ, NY, and DC as well as in public sector consulting. But I don't know about Brown or Cornell. Another nice/unique thing about Penn is that they allow students to take classes anywhere in the university, which means Fels students often do electives at Wharton or Penn Law or Penn Design (etc.) and vice-versa.