<p>In terms of the real world, as opposed to college websites, can anyone tell me what one does with such a degree and whether it is practical/useful/employable? Personal experience gratefully received.</p>
<p>My H has a MPA. He has worked for state gov’t since he got his degree. He is a director of a division of Homeland Security. Started out at DOB but has had several different positions - mostly in program development until his present position. </p>
<p>Usually there are concentrations within an MPA one specializes in. State & local, International, health, education & welfare, etc., so many different avenues for employment.</p>
<p>Emilybee, thank you so much for answering. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>We hired MPAs all the time, in the state department of social and health services. It was a big leg up (though not as much as a masters in health administration).</p>
<p>In our town (the state capitol), the MPA (at Evergreen State) is designed to meet the needs of state government (and many of the courses are taught by state government folks.)</p>
<p>This might be outdated information, but one of my sibs earned a double MPA/MJA (Judicial Administration) in the 70’s.</p>
<p>The MPA was by far the more helpful degree and led to a rewarding career serving as a judicial advocate for a governmental agency’s health care system when cases went to arbitration.</p>
<p>An MPA is geared for someone aspiring for a career in the public sector or for those whose careers involve extensively working with public sector organizations/agencies. </p>
<p>One friend did his MPA during the course of his employment with a state agency. Employer paid.</p>
<p>My cousin with a MPA has done successful development (fundraising) for several nonprofits.</p>
<p>H works in government and many of the analysts he deals with have MPA’s (but there is great variation in what these analysts do, from budget, policy, planning, etc.). Others go on to run for office themselves, or work on the staff of an elected official. The pipeline for many of those in WA government is our large, Seattle-based state U (the last three governors, many of Seattle’s mayors, country executives and city AND county council members are all UW grads either undergrad, grad or both).</p>
<p>H has had a few on-going observations about the analysts he deals with-they work their butts off year-round, but go almost 24/7 during budget time; they’re mostly young and seem to think the dress code does not apply to them; they think the staffers who are not analysts are lesser creatures and sometimes treat them as such (please don’t let your future MPA do that); they make a very good living but they work for it and if they’re on a elected’s staff, they could be out of a job if an election bid fails.</p>
<p>I can attest to the hours budget analysts put in. I was practically a single mom the years H worked in Budget, and in NY, budgets were often 4 or 5 months late so it was never ending. If one sticks with a career in budget you eventually become a team leader, unit head, section leader and then a deputy director, so there is definite career path (though the hours never get better.) </p>
<p>H got frustrated with the politics of budget and made a move to a newly created agency, then to a commission, and now at DHS - though each has it’s own political nonsense to deal with. He is now in a “serves at the pleasure of the Guv” position and can be canned any minute. But he has a hold on his last item so it’s not too concerning. </p>
<p>He got his MPA at Syracuse’s Maxwell School (#1 ranking practically every year for years) and was recruited by the Feds, state gov’ts and consulting firms. He will likely retire in a few years and go work for a consulting firm while collecting a very nice pension, too.</p>
<p>emilybee-just for our county (although our budget is supposedly larger than some entire states), H says some of the analysts sleep in the offices during budget time. They look like zombies by the time it’s over. I could not live that way.</p>
<p>Yes, it is grueling. Wasn’t easy for me either, having a wee one at home. I had no help at all. </p>
<p>Now, it’s only truly awful for him when there is a disaster. During Irene and Sandy he worked 24/7 for months. But he is 25 years older and I worry the stress is going to kill him. On a typical day he still doesn’t get home until 7ish. </p>
<p>I do get very aggravated when I hear people complain about how easy gov’t workers have it and how well they are paid. Not getting rich here - and if he got paid by the hour it would look even more pitiful.</p>
<p>Same here, though H is in communications. However, if anything happens, he is on call at all hours. It’s not limited to local events-when Sandy, Newtown, etc. happened, local politicians STILL feel the need to speak up, so H is STILL on the hook. Budget time is the worst though. I would not have though communications people would need to be there for that, but they do. His stress comes from having to be politically neutral while the politicians are not and they all suspect each other of getting more attention, then blaming him.</p>
<p>It can be even worse than that.</p>
<p>I became the Senior Staff for the state board of health two weeks before Christmas. I had never spent more than a week in the state before. I knew nothing about the state. I could not even pronounce the name of some of the counties (and I certainly didn’t know where they were.) I also knew perhaps three people outside my agency. Did I mention I have absolutely no training in public health? None whatsoever. (How I got appointed is another story.) I had not yet even been to a single meeting of the Board. </p>
<p>The week before Christmas, the Secretary of Health went into the hospital for a very serious operation. The Deputy Secretary and state health officer was called to active military service. My boss, the executive director of the state board of health, had a dying mother two thousand miles away, where she went, and was incommunicado. The health department’s director of communications had just resigned and taken a position with a major international charity.</p>
<p>So there I was in the office. The Hanford Nuclear Plant began to leak. (I barely knew where Hanford was on the map, though as it turns out, I had been the publisher of a major book about the working culture of Hanford). I had no clue what state agency dealt with that stuff. Oh, and there was no such thing as the Internet to study up. And…</p>
<p>(nothing happened. but speaking of stress…) (The next week, the budget stuff began!)</p>
<p>Well…whoever Zoozermom was inquiring for… we have effectively said enough to make that person change their mind about going into public service. ;)</p>
<p>Not quite. The moral of the story is that MPAs (and MPPs) are great degrees that prepare you for a wide varierty of interesting careers. But don’t become a budget lifer unless you are willing to work Biglaw type hours for the ability to be so close to the decision makers.</p>
<p>Not at all, Emilybee. I am extremely grateful. What an interesting bunch of folks post here.</p>
<p>Friend of ours got a MPP and has spent his career in the Foreign Commercial Service (like the foreign service, but more about business development). Has spent much of his career overseas doing some very interesting stuff. Not many folks know about this entree into gov’t.</p>
<p>Y’all must have missed the <em>wink</em> at the end of my post. </p>
<p>I have an MPP. Developed policies for several groups of non profits and lobbied to get legislation important to these groups passed.</p>
<p>I saw the wink, I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you. It really is nice to be able to ask a somewhat obscure question and get such great info. I feel very blessed.</p>
<p>S2 has just completed his MPP and has started work in his dream job doing policy development and advocacy for a nonprofit near and dear to him. He had considered MPA programs as well but he is really a policy wonk at heart. Emily I may pm you some questions next week if you don’t mind.</p>