What's In a Name: Difference in "Policy Management" versus "Public Affairs" versus "Public Administration"

[taosrun]

Looking at Georgetown's Policy Management, LBJ's Public Affairs and GWU's Public Administration programs. Are there any substantitive differences between these long-term from a career/employment perspective given similar coursework, or is this a matter of terminology?

[ZacharyObama]

Minimal. I think it's mostly in terms of how the programs think of themselves - more on the policy formulation side or more on the policy implementation side or smack dab in the middle.

[Burnt Orange]

I concur with @ZacharyObama. The name of the degree, especially among the well regarded programs, matters less than student experience, learning environment, school specialties, faculty interests, etc. The two DC programs you mention will be different in those terms than LBJ. But you'll take courses on methods, management, policy analysis, etc. at all three. Best of luck. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about LBJ.