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Are MPP/MPA degrees worthless?

post #1 of 30
8/1/09 at 10:55pm
Thread Starter 
I poasted something about MPPs a while back but can't find the thread. Anyways, for those who have an MPP/MPA or work with those who do: are they worthwhile degrees? I have been told that they are somewhat like an MBA (at least at the top tier schools), i.e. more about networking and resume padding than anything else. One guy said that he didn't really learn anything he didn't already know in an MPP program, and that is was very quant heavy. Thanks for your thoughts.
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post #2 of 30
8/1/09 at 11:44pm
you FAIL at seARCH

3rd hit
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post #3 of 30
8/1/09 at 11:45pm
Thread Starter 
That is an awesome site!
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post #4 of 30
8/1/09 at 11:52pm
I have an MPA from the State University at Albany's Rockefller College of Public Affairs. I now work as a Security Analyst for the Social Security Administration. In my current position, I get to use the skills that I learned in my MPA program quite often. However, I started off as a GS 7 claims representative, and it took me 3.5 years to get to the GS 12 analyst position. If you get in to an MPA program, make sure you apply for the Presidential Management Fellows program. This is a competive program tha introduces MPA graduates in to the federal government over a 2 year period. I know people in SSA who started off as a GS 9 program analyst and 6 years later, they are now GS 14 field office managers.

To answer your question, MPA's and MPP's are only worth while if you plan on having a career in government or non-profits.
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post #5 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:02am
Since you're at OSU you might want to talk with people who are doing the joint JD/MPP (although I don't know how much interest you have in law). Quite a number of my friends are involved in the joint program, so I'll try and gauge their thoughts about it.
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post #6 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:04am
Remember Conne, working for the federal government is the new Wall Street path. Study hard.
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post #7 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:06am
Thread Starter 
I don't really want to join the federal bureaucracy. I guess MPP/MPA would be kind of dumb then.
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post #8 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:26am
I had a colleague who went to the Kennedy School. She liked the program-- she's really smart and the degree packed a lot into 2 years-- and went from there to Booz Allen's government practice, I think. It was sort of a roundabout way of arriving where she is now, but I didn't get the sense she had any regrets. Even so, she's a hell of a lot more active in the Alumni group for her college than Harvard's.

An MPPM/MBA classmate of mine at Yale who was interested in the policy/non-profit angle almost went to the Kennedy School instead, but discovered that their career services department was several orders of magnitude worse than Yale's-- which is pretty good now but just recovering from a real mess then.

No idea what life is like further down the food chain of policy schools.
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post #9 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:32am
Finishing up an MPA now. Really interesting coursework. The workload is pretty annoying. I've got an MBA and a JD too.
JD - lots of work, but really I only studied for the last two three weeks of each semester (granted it was thirteen hours a day for those last two or three weeks, but still, I could coast until then)
MBA - aside from the finance and operations management courses, the concepts were pretty easy. Still, they tossed a bunch of group projects, presentations, and weekly assignments at you. Annoying as shit.
MPA - really interesting courses. You have to write a bunch of papers though, and they expect you to bullshit. Which is actually a change from law school, where you are supposed to be direct and concise. You basically take an easy, one page, concept and turn it into six or seven pages. So fucking annoying.

I'm really not sure what the benefit will be, I mainly took it because it sounded really interesting.

Quite a few colleagues have internships at lobbying firms, so this might be something you'd like to do. If you're serious about lobbying/politics, I'd go the MPP route. It would be worth your while.
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post #10 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Concordia View Post
I had a colleague who went to the Kennedy School. She liked the program-- she's really smart and the degree packed a lot into 2 years-- and went from there to Booz Allen's government practice, I think. It was sort of a roundabout way of arriving where she is now, but I didn't get the sense she had any regrets. Even so, she's a hell of a lot more active in the Alumni group for her college than Harvard's.

An MPPM/MBA classmate of mine at Yale who was interested in the policy/non-profit angle almost went to the Kennedy School instead, but discovered that their career services department was several orders of magnitude worse than Yale's-- which is pretty good now but just recovering from a real mess then.

No idea what life is like further down the food chain of policy schools.

Didn't Bill O'Reilly get his Master's from the Kennedy School?
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post #11 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Piobaire View Post
Didn't Bill O'Reilly get his Master's from the Kennedy School?

It's big enough to accomodate some riff-raff along with the others.
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post #12 of 30
8/2/09 at 12:49am
One of the problems with MPP (and to a lesser extent MPA) programs is that they are sometimes treated as a poor man's MBA. Meaning students apply to the programs with hopes they will end up in some managerial position in the private sector. While the private sector is not entirely fantasy, assuming the MPP you picked up at some shitty CSU is going to open to door to Wall Street is. MPP programs tend to be rewarding in the "local" connections you make. For instance, if you wanted to work in the Bay Area as a policy analysis, etc Goldman would be the best school (Berkeley). If you were interested in Texas then LBJ would be your school. However, most elite East Coast MPP programs can and will place you DC. Essentially, don't go to a shitty school.
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post #13 of 30
8/2/09 at 1:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FLMountainMan View Post
Finishing up an MPA now. Really interesting coursework. The workload is pretty annoying. I've got an MBA and a JD too.
JD - lots of work, but really I only studied for the last two three weeks of each semester (granted it was thirteen hours a day for those last two or three weeks, but still, I could coast until then)
MBA - aside from the finance and operations management courses, the concepts were pretty easy. Still, they tossed a bunch of group projects, presentations, and weekly assignments at you. Annoying as shit.
MPA - really interesting courses. You have to write a bunch of papers though, and they expect you to bullshit. Which is actually a change from law school, where you are supposed to be direct and concise. You basically take an easy, one page, concept and turn it into six or seven pages. So fucking annoying.

I'm really not sure what the benefit will be, I mainly took it because it sounded really interesting.

Quite a few colleagues have internships at lobbying firms, so this might be something you'd like to do. If you're serious about lobbying/politics, I'd go the MPP route. It would be worth your while.

Just curious. . . which degree has the best ROI for you? And um, how do you afford so much school?
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post #14 of 30
8/2/09 at 3:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
Just curious. . . which degree has the best ROI for you? And um, how do you afford so much school?

Haha, seriously. And on a state employee's salary!
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post #15 of 30
8/2/09 at 9:43am
I know a guy with an MPA from Harvard. He now works at an investment bank in public finance. BTW, he had a business degree from a state college before he got the MPA.
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