Master of Public Administration
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public & International Affairs
Key Information
Campus location
Pittsburgh, USA
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
2 years
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
USD 42,324 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Sep 2024
* Pennsylvania resident: $24,962 | non-resident: $42,324
Scholarships
Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your studies
Introduction
Promote progress in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Gain a diverse and flexible skill set that will prepare you for leadership in nonprofit agencies, government offices, and private businesses worldwide.
Professional Skills
- Neighborhood development
- Data interpretation
- Advocacy for effective local government
- Ethical leadership
- Responsible business practices
- Critical thinking and problem solving
Area Studies Certificates
If you’re looking for an international career in a specific region of the world, you can enhance your master’s degree with a graduate certificate from the University Center for International Studies.
Specializations
- Africa
- Asia
- Western Europe
- Eastern Europe
- European Union
- Global Studies
- Latin America
- Russia
Joint Degrees
You can pursue two graduate degrees simultaneously through our partnerships with other professional schools at the University of Pittsburgh and with Kobe University in Japan. This approach reduces the number of credits needed for both degrees and helps shorten your time to graduation.
- MPA/Law Degree (JD)
- MPA/Master of Public Health (MPH)
- MPA/Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS)
- MPA/Master of Social Work (MSW)
- Joint degree through Kobe University in Japan
Gallery
Curriculum
Concentrations
Energy & Environment
Energy & Environment explores the politics and policies of the worldwide energy industry, examining ways to meet global energy needs in a sustainable, environmentally conscious way. Pittsburgh is a global epicenter of one of the biggest energy revolutions of the 21st century - the shale gas boom. New technologies like “fracking” are making billions of dollars of natural gas accessible to world markets for the first time, generating thousands of new jobs from Europe to North America. Western Pennsylvania sits atop one of the largest and most productive shale deposits anywhere on the planet, raising major questions about how to extract the gas responsibly, how to protect communities from environmental harm, and how to tax and regulate the rapid growth. GSPIA Students study the economics of the global energy industry, environmental sustainability, and regulatory policy in one of the world’s best living laboratories. Graduates are prepared for jobs at environmental protection agencies, energy corporations, and a host of local, state, and national government offices that make energy policy.
Public & Nonprofit Management
Public service is a discipline practiced at many levels: local, national, and international, often with ripple effects across each. Through grassroots contributions and global applications, GSPIA students pursuing a public & nonprofit management major acquire a deep understanding of the many contexts in which public and nonprofit organizations operate. Many look forward to the opportunity to leverage change in a mixed economy.
Our curriculum stresses responsible leadership, and our students develop the skills to diagnose leadership challenges and opportunities from a variety of ethical and moral frameworks. Our interdisciplinary approach draws from a variety of fields such as philosophy, law, organizational design, and political science. Our approach gives students the skills they need to meet the challenges of a world in which services increasingly span boundaries among business, government, and nonprofit organizations.
Governance & International Public Management
Governance and International Public Management provides a comparative perspective on international development, focusing on the ways in which public and nonprofit organizations must adapt to meet the different cultural, political, and economic circumstances of the communities they serve.
It explores how public agencies around the globe, faced with similar problems like poverty, illiteracy, and inequality, have addressed those issues differently in different countries. Students confront the challenges of implementing complex policies in a global, multicultural context. This major focuses on developing the management and analytical skills necessary to take leadership roles in the multilateral sector, governments abroad, or any organization that delivers services internationally. Graduates are well-prepared to pursue careers at the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and similar organizations.
Social Policy
Gain the quantitative, political, administrative, and legal skills to analyze social needs and policy impact on human lives worldwide. You'll learn to monitor, evaluate, and communicate data to convey the consequences of policy development and implementation.
Policy Research and Analysis
Today’s policymakers require analytical skills from a variety of disciplines: quantitative, economic, political, and organizational. Students in the policy research & analysis major enjoy access to a rich array of resources to help them prepare for careers in both the public and private sectors. Recent graduates of our program have gone on to work in such careers as budget examiners for the state of New York, analysts for the Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Mint, and consultants for the leading firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
Motivated and inquisitive people looking to acquire the technical skills and knowledge to contribute to research and policymaking decisions will appreciate our curriculum. It is infused with a rich variety of interdisciplinary viewpoints to give students a well-informed view of policy analysis that is both national and international in scope.
Urban Affairs & Planning
The major in Urban Affairs and Planning takes a city-focused perspective on international development. More than half of the world’s people now live in urban areas, raising important questions about how governments should meet the public’s needs for transportation, health and sanitation, education, and other essential services.
As the developing world urbanizes, booming cities like Shanghai, Mumbai, Buenos Aires, and Johannesburg face critical challenges, including poverty, homelessness, and pollution. The major prepares students to confront those problems on an international scale while developing valuable skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), regional economic planning, and sustainable development management. Students take advantage of GSPIA’s highly regarded Center for Metropolitan Studies, participating in cutting-edge research alongside faculty experts.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Employment Data – Class of 2020
- 27% Local/State Government
- 3% International Government
- 63% Nonprofit/NGO
- 7% Private
Admissions
Program Admission Requirements
Demonstrate your commitment and readiness to succeed in business school by taking the GMAT exam – the most widely used exam for admissions that measures your critical thinking and reasoning skills.
Download the GMAT mini quiz to get a flavour of the questions you’ll find in the exam.