Online Public Administration Degrees
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The most basic definition of public administration is the "management of public programs." Public administrators work for government departments, helping distribute government services to the people and run legal departments. They are expected to have both administrative skills and specialized knowledge of their department. Much of the work that public administrators do is theoretical; they develop new and innovate practices to help make their department function as effectively as possible. Public administrators work for a variety of different government programs. For example, a public administrator may work in a county's unemployment office, helping to distribute benefits. Or a public administrator may work for urban housing developments, helping to approve or deny applications. Public administrators usually work in a specific subfield, including human resource management, organizational theory, policy analysis, or public budgeting.
The courses included in public administration programs are similar to traditional MBAs. Students will study leadership, management, finance, and economics, and some programs tailor these classes to the exact needs of public administrators. Specific public administration classes include philanthropy, policy evaluation, natural resource management, international development, and social policy. Bachelor's degrees in public administration are also available at some schools.
The day-to-day life of a public administrator depends on his or her particular job. Some public administrators have office jobs, and their duties are similar to those who work in similar positions at for-profit companies. They may handle hiring and firing, or help create budgets for their organization. Other public administrators, who usually command higher salaries, work in settings that are similar to think tanks, in that they create business models in order to maximize efficiency. In this type of position, in-depth knowledge of public administration laws is essential. Some public administrators actually have law degrees in addition to their MPAs.
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What are some of the specializations within this degree program?
- Human Resource Management: Human resource management employees must understand that laws and ethics that govern business practices. They are usually responsible for hiring, training, and managing a department's employees.
- Organizational Theory: Organizational theory is the study of how governments are structured and run, and it includes discussion on how to improve the way a particular organization is run.
- Ethics: Though it is not a popular specialization, the study of ethics can be critical in sensitive public administration programs, many of which serve minorities or underprivileged populations.
- Policy Analysis: Evaluating policies and administering studies to determine how successful a given program is are essential elements of public administration.
- Public Budgeting: Most who go into public budgeting have a background in finance, accounting, or economics, and must be able to interpret data and make accurate predictions regarding how much something will cost.
What degree levels are available?
- Bachelor's Degree: 4 years to complete
- Master's Degree: 2-3 years to complete
- Master of Business Administration: 2-3 years to complete
- Doctoral Degree: 4-6 years to complete
What are the educational and certification requirements?
Public administrators who work in policy and budget development are usually required to have MPAs or MBAs in public administration. Some of the top executives have PhDs or other postgraduate degrees, such as law degrees. A prelude to an MPA may be a bachelor in business, nonprofit management, government, political science, or public administration. For some public administration careers, general business bachelor's degrees may suffice. For example, a human resources professional at a local department of labor may need only a bachelor's degree.
Those who work in a highly specified public administration field, such as education or public health, must have training and experience that is relevant to their area of interest. All in all, a public administrator must have leadership, management, and budgeting skills along with specific knowledge of public departments and governments.
The International Facility Management Association offers several professional certification options. Most of these certifications require an exam, a degree, and a certain amount of experience. There are several other certification organizations out there, many of which require endorsements or recommendations to be eligible. The federal government and state governments do not require any kind of public administration certification, and chances are that earning a certificate will not improve hirability as much as a graduate degree or experience will. (IFMA)
What kinds of classes will I be expected to take?
Degree programs in public administration are made up of courses are that are designed to train graduates for management positions in local, state, or federal government. The classes in these programs revolve around personal skills like leadership and supervision abilities, as well as the logistical tools for running a public agency, such as budgeting and information management.
Classes in management and leadership teach students in these programs how to lead teams of workers in the special environment of the public sector. Classes such as Organizational Behavior discuss the ways in which government organizations are structured, and how the different workers interact and instruct one another. Other courses, such as Personnel Administration, focus on the supervision of government workers that is a core part of the public administration job.
Along with these managerial topics, students must learn the practical techniques for keeping a public office up and running. The course Budgeting for Public Agencies is included in most degree programs; this course discusses yearly budgeting, as well as quarterly spending issues that are important for keeping a government office within its fiscal constraints. Information management courses discuss the information technology systems that come into play in the public office, as well as the need to keep operations transparent while also securing sensitive information.
If I pursue this program online, will I be required to complete any on-site training?
There is no on-site training required to receive an online public administration degree. For career purposes, it may be helpful to have some experience working in the public sector, but it is not required.
What are some other degrees that are related to this program?
There are many degrees in fields that are similar to public administration, geared toward those interested in working in the public or non-profit sector in a different capacity. Students may choose to pursue a degree in public policy, for example. This degree does not focus on the management and administration of a non-profit or government organization; rather, students focus on how those organizations function and are goverened, and how policy can improve their effectiveness.
Students may also pursue a degree in a subject that is a part of the public administration curriculum. Students can choose to focus entirely on economics as a degree; another closely related degree is political science. These two degrees touch on subjects pertinent to public administration, but allow students to go further in depth without studying them only in the context of public administration.
