MPP and MPA Programs
University of Oregon, Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM)
Program Comparison Highlights
Institutional Structure: TO COME
Curriculum Design: TO COME
Professional Program Features: TO COME
Program Summary
Website: http://pppm.uoregon.edu/
University: University of Oregon
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Degree: Master of Public Administration (MPA)
Marketing Approach: "A central focus of the University of Oregon’s master of public administration (MPA) program is to prepare students to become evidence-based policy makers, analysts, and managers. Evidence based policy making is a concept that has been gaining widespread acceptance in the policy community, both in the U.S. and abroad. It is based on the idea that the formulation of policy and its implementation should be based on evidence of effectiveness. We further extend this concept to management, as managerial decisions benefit from an evidence-based approach as well. Fostering evidence based decision making requires a closer connection between research and practice. On the one hand, it requires that researchers ask policy relevant questions and conduct meaningful and timely analyses that can support the policy process. On the other hand, it requires that policy makers, managers, and leaders think critically about research and integrate appropriate evidence in the implementation and formulation of policy and administrative practice. The MPA curriculum has been developed to train students in applied research and provide opportunities for real world applications. The faculty strives to support evidence based decision making through our research and community outreach activities, as well as our teaching." (At http://pppm.uoregon.edu/grad/mpa#Curriculum, accessed 9 June 2014.)
Degrees Awarded per year: Approximately 25
Academic Unit within University: School of Architecture and Allied Arts
Related Academic Units and Degrees: Master of Community and Regional Planning, Master of Nonprofit Management, The Certificate in Nonprofit Management, Oregon Leadership in Sustainability Certificate Program
Posted Tuition: Tuition is calculated on $490 per credit. For 72 credits, Oregon residents would pay $35,280 and non-residents would pay $55,728
Concentration/Curriculum Overview: The 72 credit (13.8 one-semester-course equivalents) program prepares students to become effective and creative leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors. The curriculum provides students with a combination of substantive knowledge, analytic skills, and professional experience that prepares students for careers as evidence-based policymakers, analysts, or managers. The program is comprised of four components: 1) core courses, 2) a field of interest, 3) an internship and professional development training, and 4) synthesizing applied research and policy analysis projects.
Note 1. Most of the MPA programs are 4-credit-courses. In the Course Map below, courses that are 5 credits or 3 credits are noted as fractions of the normal 4-credit courses.
Note 2. We have used the equivalency of 4 University of Oregon credits = 10/13 one-semester-course equivalent because a typical 4-credit course has 10 170-minute classes plus an exam period compared to the median for semester courses of 13 170-minute classes plus an exam period. It is worth noting that the University of Oregon Office of the Register has higher expectations for the amount of student work per hour of class than that described in Credit Requirements and Course Equivalents, which are assumes that that a standard one-semester-equivalent American graduate course requires approximately 120 hours of student engagement. The University of Oregon Office of the Register site states: "Under the UO quarter system, each undergraduate credit reflects approximately thirty hours of student engagement. Therefore, a 3-credit course would engage students for approximately 90 hours total among the activities listed below, whereas a 4-credit course would entail approximately 120 hours of activities in which students are actively engaged in learning over the course of the term. Graduate students are expected to perform work of higher quality and quantity, typically with forty hours of student engagement for each student credit hour. Therefore, a 3-credit graduate course would typically engage students approximately 120 hours; a 4-credit graduate course may be expected to entail approximately 160 hours for the average student for whom the course is designed." (At http://registrar.uoregon.edu/faculty_staff/academic_scheduling/syllabus accessed 9 June 2014.)
Degree Requirements
Summary: Students take 33 credits in core courses, 24 credits in an MPA field of interest, 3 credits from internships and professional development, and 11 credits in applied research projects including a final capstone course for the remaining credit.
MPA Fields of Interest (24 Credits): In consultation with a faculty advisor, students develop a substantive area of expertise by taking a minimum of 24 credits of coursework in a field of interest. Students may develop their own field (again, in consultation with the faculty advisor), or model their choice on one of the following 11 sample fields:
- public management
- nonprofit management
- community and regional planning
- environmental policy
- education & labor policy
- health policy
- transportation policy
- economic development
- international development
- research methods
- general policy
Internships and Professional Development (3 Credits): There are two components of the MPA internship requirement. The first is enrollment in the PPPM 623 Professional Development (1 credit). Students begin the course during orientation week and continue through Fall term of their first year. Through this course students identify their career goals and develop a plan to prepare themselves to meet the goals. Students identify summer internship and post-graduation fellowship opportunities, and develop polished resume and cover letters. The second component is completion of an internship. Internships offer students opportunities to explore and clarify career goals, apply academic learning, enhance and learn new skills, gain experience, and network with professionals. Unlike jobs, internships are supervised training experiences with the explicit intent of developing skills. Internships are highly recommended for all MPA students, and required for those with fewer than two years of relevant professional experience.
MPA Policy Analysis and Applied Research Projects (11 Credits): 48-Hour MPA Project. At the start of the second year, students engage in a 48-hour project. It is intended to simulate the real world environment where analysts and managers are given short time frames to research a topic that they know little or nothing about. The Capstone Applied Research Project. In their second year of MPA study, students enroll in a two-term terminal project sequence that serves as the synthesizing Capstone of the curriculum. Working as student consultant groups, students conduct real world applied policy or management research for public agencies or nonprofit organizations. A faculty member works closely with each student group on these projects.
Duration: 2 years
Academic Prerequisites: GREs are highly recommended for admission. The average undergraduate GPA for students in the program is 3.6 and their mean GRE scores are 580 for verbal reasoning, 624 for quantitative reasoning, and 5 for analytical writing. We also accept the GMAT score, but the GRE is preferred.
Number of One-Semester-Equivalent Courses required for Completion: 13.8
Number of required Courses: 9.2 one-semester-equivalents
Number of elective courses typically taken: 4.6 one-semester-equivalents
Number of electives offered within program: 53
Comprehensive examination: No
Thesis required: No
Internship required: Yes (for students with less than two years of professional experience).
International study required: No
Co-curricular Activities Supportive to Degree
Professional Development and Career Support: Yes
Student-run Journal: No
Applied Projects: Yes
Pro Bono Consulting: No
Courses Offered: The full list of 2013-2014 Oregon courses is found at: http://pppm.uoregon.edu/course-syllabi#MPACore. The courses listed on the Course Map are those from the required courses plus those listed on the University of Oregon MPA Fields of Interest Course List (at http://pppm.uoregon.edu/sites/pppm.uoregon.edu/files/images/MPA%20Concentrations%20Course%20List%202013.pdf, accessed 9 June 2014).
Course Material Online: Many syllabi are available to the public online at http://pppm.uoregon.edu/course-syllabi#MPACore.
Instructional Distribution (PEACO Profile): The distribution of instruction offered, based on the course assignments to subjects in the Oregon Course Map below, weighted by estimated enrolment based on the number of elective courses offered (69) and number of electives typically taken (6), is displayed below. [See PEACO Algorithm.]
|
I. Courses Required and Offered |
|
|
a. Number of one-semester courses required for degree |
13.8 |
|
b. Number of required courses |
9.2 |
|
c. Number of elective courses taken (a - b) |
4.7 |
|
d. Number of elective courses offered |
53.1 |
|
e. Enrolment weight of elective courses (c/d) |
0.09 |
|
|
|
|
II. Distribution of Courses (Enrolment-Adjusted) among Atlas |
|
|
Domains and Subjects |
|
|
Tools and Skills |
56.1% |
|
- Strategy and Structure |
11.1% |
|
- Economic Analysis |
6.5% |
|
|
- Quantitative Methods and Management Sciences |
15.6% |
|
- Leadership, Communication, Professional Practice |
22.8% |
|
Institutions and Context |
8.0% |
|
- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process |
6.5% |
|
- Ethics and Accountability |
0.0% |
|
- Social, Political, Global and Local Contexts |
1.5% |
|
Management Functions |
12.1% |
|
- Public Financial Management |
11.1% |
|
- Evaluation and Performance Measurement |
0.5% |
|
- Other Management Functions |
0.5% |
|
Policy Sectors |
23.9% |
|
- Fiscal, Monetary and Tax Policy |
0.5% |
|
- International Development |
3.9% |
|
- Health |
0.5% |
|
- Other Policy Sectors |
19.0% |
|
Total |
100% |
|
|
|
|
III. Number of Courses in "NASPAA-required Subjects" taken by |
|
|
Typical Student in NASPAA Required Competency Domains |
|
|
Lead and Manage in Public Governance |
1.94 |
|
Participate and Contribute to the Policy Process |
2.37 |
|
Analyze, Synthesize, Solve Problems and Make Decisions |
4.22 |
|
Articulate and Apply Public Service Perspectives |
1.44 |
|
Communicate and Interact with Workforce and Citizenry |
0.74 |
|
Total Course Equivalents taken in Required Competencies |
10.71 |
|
|
|
|
IV. Ratio of Courses in "NASPAA-required Subjects" taken by |
|
|
Typical Student to Estimated Requirement for Competency |
|
|
Lead and Manage in Public Governance |
0.97 |
|
Participate and Contribute to the Policy Process |
1.18 |
|
Analyze, Synthesize, Solve Problems and Make Decisions |
1.48 |
|
Articulate and Apply Public Service Perspectives |
0.81 |
|
Communicate and Interact with Workforce and Citizenry |
0.54 |
|
Ratio of Total Instruction in Competencies to Amount Needed |
1.07 |
Source: At http://uocatalog.uoregon.edu/enteringuo/tuition%20and%20fees, http://pppm.uoregon.edu/course-syllabi#MPACore and http://pppm.uoregon.edu/grad/mpa (accessed 20 May 2014).
Page Created By: Kyle Richardson on 20 May 2014 and updated by Ian Clark on 14 June 2014 and Dave Marshall on 3 April 2015. Updating and editing may consist of substantive and/or formatting changes. Unless otherwise noted, however, information regarding a program's structure, curricular offerings and PEACO score is based on the program as it was on the date of page creation. The content presented on this page, except for the assignments of courses to Atlas subjects, the Instructional Distribution analysis, and the Commentary is drawn directly from the source(s) cited above, and consists of direct quotations or close paraphrases.
Oregon MPA Course Map
C o u r s e s O f f e r e d, l i s t e d b y P u b l i c P o l i c y a n d M a n a g e m e n t S u b j e c t