Are you concerned with the needs and problems of modern society?

How will you address such issues as global competition for jobs, energy and environmental policy, maintaining the viability of our cities, and understanding the causes of poverty?

When you become a public administrator, you acquire the tools to affect the quality of life in our world.

As opposed to business administration, which is primarily concerned with profit, public administration is concerned with equality, justice, and the efficiency and effectiveness of public service. Public administrators pursue the public good by enhancing civil society through the administration of government and nonprofit sectors. To do this effectively, public administrators are trained at public administration schools.

Public Administration Degrees
Public administration schools confer bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees. Master of public administration degree programs may be accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. Find a list of accredited public administration schools here. Many of these master's degree programs require the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for entry. It is not necessary to hold a bachelor's degree in public administration to qualify for a master's degree program.

With a public administration degree, you can find work in local, state, or federal government; public service sectors such as law enforcement, health care, or education; or nonprofit organizations such as arts or international relief agencies. Public administration careers include ambassadors, business executives, consultants, environmental specialists, lawmakers, leaders of nonprofit organizations, policy analysts, professors, public finance specialists, public managers, urban experts, and more. 

Public Administration Courses
Public administration degree programs develop the skills and techniques used by managers to implement policies, programs, and projects that resolve important societal problems while addressing organizational, human resource, and budgetary challenges. Public administration courses provide a broad background in social sciences, economics, and law, focusing on organizational governance, finance, and administration, and emphasizing leadership and management skills, strategic planning, media relations, and disaster response.

Core public administration courses typically include budgeting and financial processes, decision making and problem solving, economic and social institutions and processes, ethics, human resources, information systems, organization and management concepts and behavior, policy and program formulation, and political and legal institutions and processes.

Opportunities in Public Administration
Public administration schools offer a variety of program specializations and concentrations. From criminal justice, environmental management, health care management, nonprofit management, and urban affairs, to aviation security, election administration, and philanthropic development, public administration schools have a niche to meet your needs. In addition, public administration schools may provide preparation for international service or for service with an international organization based in the U.S.

As a student at public administration schools, you also gain access to incredible career opportunities before you graduate. The federal government as well as many state and local governments offer special incentives designed to attract public administration students into public service. The Presidential Management Internship (PMI) Program, for example, is a highly competitive program that offers rotational assignments in different branches and substantive areas of the federal government. Public administration schools nominate candidates for the program, and if you are chosen, you undergo an assessment process to have the opportunity to attend a PMI job fair and become a coveted intern.

Enroll in public administration schools, and discover what you can do to change the world.