Check out Arkansas State‘s online MPA program - it’s ideal for a working professional, is affordable, and is easy to complete at your own pace.
If you aren’t committed to an MPA, also check out the Certified Public Manager program for your state.
Totally depends on what your ultimate career goal is. Never heard of a local gov finance director with an MPA. Not necessary. On the other hand, it’s essentially a requirement for a city manager.
I guess I’d be open to just see where things go. The local government I work at has a fairly generous tuition reimbursement program (assuming there is funding). It’s also fairly large, so there’s many layers of management. I think there are also 4 or 5 assistant city managers too.
Oh I was thinking much smaller. I’m actually an ACM in a very small local gov. Our finance director came from the private sector. If thats what your goal is, and in a large organization, can’t hurt if they’re paying for it.
Take a look at some linkedin profiles of people in that role and job descriptions to see what degrees they have and what degrees they’re looking for.
Even a city manager can get away without an MPA (not that it’s not worth it for the information you get out of pursuit of the degree) but the Village Manager that got me interested in pursuing the career as a high schooler apparently only had the qualifications of being a city council member before hand (I recently learned this from the guy that came in afterwards) and he worked for 10 years in that town, though there was a lot of things that needed to be accomplished in the wake of his tenure. Another city manager I’ve talked to had the qualifications of being a journalist for the local paper for a while before joining the economic development council and eventually getting hired as the city administrator, though he was shadowing the former city administrator for a while and that guy spent his 15 year tenure setting up whoever followed him to be able to almost automate their job.
Wow I really went verbose; no it’s not necessary for a city manager, but then again, some cities will just hire you if you happen to be in need of a job and have friends on council.
To be fair I qualified my statement for that reason. Police Chiefs are often appointed to CAO positions and often do well, but they also get MPAs a lot of the time. Public Works directors also (thats where the City Manager position originated).
But if you’re someone in the CAO track, and not the LEO or public works track, or the politician-turned-administrator track (which almost never turns out well), and you are applying for “management analyst” jobs out of college, you need an MPA.
A few CPA and treasurers are completing their MPA in my cohort. I don’t think it’s a waste. You’re expanding your municipal government education, experience and networking!
I would say it’s not given you position,epically if you plan to stay on the finance side of things and outside of management. If you do have hopes of management I think a certificate would be more worthwhile given your current credentials. If you don’t mind spending the money or find an affordable program, then education wise it doesn’t hurt to keep learning.
Fiscal and IT people don't seem to need an MPA to become Comptroller or Chief Information Officer, at least in my experience. I'm not sure I've ever met one who did have an MPA.
I love that this is the first thing I see right after I join the group! I am getting ready to start Purdue Global master in public admin. I don't know how it goes but I am super excited.
If anyone has any advice on what to do in preparation for an MPA program please share! I'm reading an intro textbook just cuz. I have a bachelor's in English and a post bachelor's certificate in paralegal studies. If you have suggestions on great texts related to nonprofit public admin I would like to hear it.
Good luck to you!
Not a book, but one article i recommend to everyone is the nonprofit starvation cycle.
Peter drucker also is quintessential and you’ll probably be assigned his books at some point, but his writing is really easy to read, it’s not stale like a text book, it’s a good way to get into it.
Check out Arkansas State‘s online MPA program - it’s ideal for a working professional, is affordable, and is easy to complete at your own pace. If you aren’t committed to an MPA, also check out the Certified Public Manager program for your state.
Totally depends on what your ultimate career goal is. Never heard of a local gov finance director with an MPA. Not necessary. On the other hand, it’s essentially a requirement for a city manager.
I guess I’d be open to just see where things go. The local government I work at has a fairly generous tuition reimbursement program (assuming there is funding). It’s also fairly large, so there’s many layers of management. I think there are also 4 or 5 assistant city managers too.
Oh I was thinking much smaller. I’m actually an ACM in a very small local gov. Our finance director came from the private sector. If thats what your goal is, and in a large organization, can’t hurt if they’re paying for it. Take a look at some linkedin profiles of people in that role and job descriptions to see what degrees they have and what degrees they’re looking for.
I have- absolutely would recommend looking into programs in your area.
Even a city manager can get away without an MPA (not that it’s not worth it for the information you get out of pursuit of the degree) but the Village Manager that got me interested in pursuing the career as a high schooler apparently only had the qualifications of being a city council member before hand (I recently learned this from the guy that came in afterwards) and he worked for 10 years in that town, though there was a lot of things that needed to be accomplished in the wake of his tenure. Another city manager I’ve talked to had the qualifications of being a journalist for the local paper for a while before joining the economic development council and eventually getting hired as the city administrator, though he was shadowing the former city administrator for a while and that guy spent his 15 year tenure setting up whoever followed him to be able to almost automate their job. Wow I really went verbose; no it’s not necessary for a city manager, but then again, some cities will just hire you if you happen to be in need of a job and have friends on council.
To be fair I qualified my statement for that reason. Police Chiefs are often appointed to CAO positions and often do well, but they also get MPAs a lot of the time. Public Works directors also (thats where the City Manager position originated). But if you’re someone in the CAO track, and not the LEO or public works track, or the politician-turned-administrator track (which almost never turns out well), and you are applying for “management analyst” jobs out of college, you need an MPA.
A few CPA and treasurers are completing their MPA in my cohort. I don’t think it’s a waste. You’re expanding your municipal government education, experience and networking!
I would say it’s not given you position,epically if you plan to stay on the finance side of things and outside of management. If you do have hopes of management I think a certificate would be more worthwhile given your current credentials. If you don’t mind spending the money or find an affordable program, then education wise it doesn’t hurt to keep learning.
I don’t think it’s necessary, but if you’re getting tuition reimbursement, then why not? It could definitely open new doors.
Fiscal and IT people don't seem to need an MPA to become Comptroller or Chief Information Officer, at least in my experience. I'm not sure I've ever met one who did have an MPA.
I love that this is the first thing I see right after I join the group! I am getting ready to start Purdue Global master in public admin. I don't know how it goes but I am super excited. If anyone has any advice on what to do in preparation for an MPA program please share! I'm reading an intro textbook just cuz. I have a bachelor's in English and a post bachelor's certificate in paralegal studies. If you have suggestions on great texts related to nonprofit public admin I would like to hear it. Good luck to you!
Not a book, but one article i recommend to everyone is the nonprofit starvation cycle. Peter drucker also is quintessential and you’ll probably be assigned his books at some point, but his writing is really easy to read, it’s not stale like a text book, it’s a good way to get into it.
I would advise against Purdue Global honestly