Doctoral Options for MPP/MPA Grads?

[Jufarius87]

Its a fairly distant concern for me as I will be entering an MPP/MPA program next year if all goes well. That said since I see a possible move into academia in my future, what is the traditional doctoral path for an MPP/MPA grad? I know many schools do Public Policy PhDs, are these well received compared to doctorates in Political Science or Economics? Is it common for Political Science and Economics departments to hire Public Policy PhDs and vice versa?

 

Is the transition from MPA/MPP to Political Science PhD difficult? What about Economics (not my interest but I could see a few folks using the MPP/MPA to boost their quantitative credentials before applying).

[NPRjunkie]

I know many schools do Public Policy PhDs, are these well received compared to doctorates in Political Science or Economics? Is it common for Political Science and Economics departments to hire Public Policy PhDs and vice versa?

 

No, to both. They're not interchangeable. I imagine they're only useful for posts at public policy schools or think tanks; even then, though, as I'm sure you can tell, 99% of faculty have the right academic credentials (e.g. poli/sci, economics, etc.

 

Is the transition from MPA/MPP to Political Science PhD difficult? What about Economics (not my interest but I could see a few folks using the MPP/MPA to boost their quantitative credentials before applying).

 

Yes but not impossible, and considerably easier if you go to a program with access to broader university resources that allows you to take poli/sci classes. Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia all have MPA/MIA programs that have better track records for MPA to PhD, particularly Columbia (I think) because SIPA is incestuous with the poli/sci department for particular concentrations and has the largest selection of courses by far and the most flexibility in choosing them. Choose a school that gives you that flexibility and allows you to take classes in poli/sci as credit.