MPA/MPP or related programs fo mid-career professionals?

[elodiethomson]

Interested in applying for a mid-career MPA (or MPP), wondering what the options are and how they are ranked and how their curriculum is like if anybody can help me? Thanks!

[Hanson's Fan]

Pls visit HKS or Maxwell website for mid-career programs info. And you'll see some overlapped and difference patterns. Best of luck...

[PrincetonOrBust]

The Princeton Woodrow Wilson School has an MPP for mid career professionals that is only one year long (+6 weeks in the summer) and is probably near the top as far rankings are concerned. They require at least 7 years of post B.A. experience (or a PhD, MD, or JD), but the average experience of admitted students is ~15 years. Take a look at their website to see the faculty and curriculum -- its pretty dang impressive. Also, the website lists bios of admitted students which is helpful in seeing what the school is looking for.

The program is actually a bit LESS competitive than Princeton's regular MPA program, with admission rates closer to 25% for the MPP vs. about 11-12% for the MPA (of course, this is likely due to a lot of self-screening).

Clearly, I'm bias, but I'm of the opinion that this is the best such program anywhere in the world. Good luck!

[bgreenster]

What exactly are you looking to do in MPA/MPP? I know of a few programs, just based on my own research (I'm not looking to go mid-career, but I'm kind of obsessive at looking at everything a college has to offer). They seem to be even more focused than the non-executive degrees, so it really will depend on what you're trying to do/are currently doing. I think another important factor is whether or not location will matter for you. It would seem to me that you would need to stay wherever you're currently working, since a lot of mid-career are executive programs, so you can keep on at your job while pursuing the degree... Are you planning on going full-time or part-time and continuing employment? Depending on your current job, I would look to see if they have some kind of sponsorship program to assist in you going back to school. I know that's how my dad did his MBA at Kellogg while working

Some that I remember are:

Master of Public Affairs atthe LBJ School at Texas-Austin. Their website is at http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/degreeprograms/mpaff/midcareer

Master of International Development Policy at Duke's Sanford School - http://sanford.duke.edu/centers/dcid/degree/pidp/

At American University: (they also have a bunch of certificate programs... AU is huge, so they have a lot of different options)

Master of International Service through the School of International Service - http://www.american.edu/sis/admissions/Executive.cfm

Key Executive Leadership Program - http://www.american.edu/spa/key/mpa.cfm

MS in Organizational Development - http://www.american.edu/spa/msod/index.cfm