MPA Courses
The MPA requires a minimum of 42 credits for those with at least 1 year of administrative experience and 45 credits for those required to complete a three-credit internship.
The degree requires the following components:
- 8 core classes (24 credits)
- 5 electives (with option to specialize, 15 credits)
- 1 internship course (if required; 3 credits)
- Capstone (3 credits)
PAF 9100 Introduction to Public Affairs
PAF 9103 Communication in Public Settings
PAF 9120 Public and Nonprofit Management I
PAF 9130 Economic Analysis and Public Policy
PAF 9140 Budgeting and Financial Analysis I
PAF 9165 Race, Inequality and Public Policies
PAF 9270 Data Collection and Description
PAF 9271 Data Analysis for Public Service Or PAF 9272 Causal Analysis and Inference
MPA students have the option to specialize by focusing 9 of their 15 elective credits in one of the specializations listed below. Students in all specializations complete the same core courses. Selection of a specialization is not required.
The Health Care Policy specialization is designed for those who want to make a difference in health and healthcare delivery systems. You’ll get a firsthand understanding of how to analyze, implement, and evaluate responsive health policies at the local, state, and national levels. You’ll also be introduced to the political, economic and social factors affecting health care delivery to diverse populations, including the disadvantaged and vulnerable. These skills can be applied to government health care agencies, private and public hospitals, health advocacy groups, or insurance companies. (9 credits + 6 credits of Free Electives)
3 hours, 3 credits
Students are also encouraged to take courses from the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy or other health-related courses from Baruch or CUNY that can be substituted for the above electives. (With permission of Graduate Advisement)
There are some 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the U.S. today, including 30,000 in New York City. The Nonprofit Management specialization will help you think like a nonprofit leader, focusing on fundraising, decision-making, emergency preparedness, and ethics and philanthropy. This specialization prepares students for roles as nonprofit board members, managers, executive directors, or chief financial officers. (9 credits + 6 credits of Free Electives)
PAF 9152 Fund Raising and Grants Administration in Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations OR PAF 9153: Budgeting and Finance for Nonprofits
MPA Students are also encouraged to take related courses from Baruch or CUNY colleges that can be substituted for the above electives. (With permission of Graduate Advisement)
The concentration in policy analysis and evaluation is designed for students interested in developing analytic skills that can be applied across a broad array of policy topics and arenas. Students will learn about policy development and implementation from both theoretical and practical perspectives, at all levels of government and policymaking. The specialization includes two required courses, Policy Analysis and Economics of the Public Sector and Public Finance, and two electives drawn from a wide range of policy courses. (9 credits + 6 credits of Free Electives)
PAF 9134 Urban Transportation Policy
PAF 9141 Community Development: History, Present, and Future
PAF 9143 Greening and Growing Cities: Sustainability and Public Policy Choices
PAF 9145 Poverty and Social Policy
PAF 9161 Business and Public Policy
PAF 9173 Program Auditing and Performance Measurement
PAF 9177 Advanced Quantitative Methods
PAF 9186 Map Making for Public Policy
PAF 9338 Higher Education, Politics and Public Policy
PAF 9699 Selected Topics in Public Policy
PAF 9710 Health and Health Care
PAF 9766 Health Care Costs and Financing
MPA Students are also encouraged to take related courses from Baruch or CUNY colleges that can be substituted for the above electives. (With permission of Graduate Advisement)
Explore new ways of workforce and asset administration with the Public Management specialization. It prepares students by focusing on human and capital resource issues, changing venues of public management, and sound practices of institutional representation. Students who pursue this specialization are often nominated as finalists to competitive fellowship programs like the New York State Public Management Institute and the Presidential Management Fellows Program. (9 credits + 6 credits of Free Electives)
PAF 9104 Media, Politics, and Public Culture
PAF 9110 Ethics and Public Decision-Making
PAF 9111 American Public Law and the Administrative State
PAF 9115 Intergovernmental Relations
PAF 9117 Public Personnel and Human Resource Management OR PAF 9127 Managing Cultural Diversity (if not completed as required course)
PAF 9139 Communication Strategy
PAF 9151 Administration of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations
PAF 9155 Governing without Government
PAF 9156 Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
PAF 9163 Leadership and Strategy
PAF 9173 Program Auditing and Performance Measurement
PAF 9181 Comparative Public Policy and Administration
PAF 9184 International Institutions and Global Governance
PAF 9201 Mobilizing Digital Communication for the Public Good
PAF 9202 Civic and Political Speech-Making in New York City
MPA Students are also encouraged to take related courses from Baruch or CUNY colleges that can be substituted for the above electives. (With permission of Graduate Advisement)
The Social Justice Specialization helps students develop the academic and applied skills to analyze structures and systems driving inequality, injustices, and exclusion, and to develop policies and strategies to create and sustain a just and equitable society. These strategies include, among others, research and analysis, community organizing, public education, and advocacy. This specialization acknowledges the persistent and cumulative effects of past injustices and seeks to create practitioners, experts, and leaders who will promote structural changes to achieve greater equity, human rights, and democratic participation. (9 credits + 6 credits of Free Electives)
PAF 9104 Media, Politics, and Public Culture
PAF 9110 Ethics and Public Decision-Making
PAF 9127 Managing Diversity in the Workplace
PAF 9129 Animal Welfare and Rights
PAF 9141 Community Development
PAF 9145 Poverty and Social Policy
PAF 9199 Selected Topics in Public Affairs
PAF 9203 Communicating for Equity and Social Change
PAF 9299 Selected Topics in Nonprofit Management (if directly relevant)
PAF 9344 Diversity in Higher Education
PAF 9399 Selected Topics in Educational Administration (if directly relevant)
PAF 9430 Diaspora, Migration, and Transnational Life in the Western Hemisphere and Beyond
PAF 9433 Race, Ethnicity and Nationalism
PAF 9699 Selected Topics in Public Policy (if directly relevant)
PAF 9799 Selected Topics in Health Policy (if directly relevant)
Other courses from Marxe, Baruch or CUNY colleges can be substituted for the above electives if it can be demonstrated that they have Social Justice content or that the student intends to focus on Social Justice issues. (With permission of Graduate Advisement).
This specialization evaluates sustainability in urban centers from a social, economic, and environmental perspective. Students learn how cities can improve and sustain housing, land use, business activity, and infrastructure. Program graduates often pursue roles with community organizations, nonprofit advocacy groups, and government sustainability agencies. (9 credits + 6 credits of Free Electives)
PAF 9132 Governing New York City
PAF 9134 Urban Transportation Policy
PAF 9136 Urban Economic Development
PAF 9141 Community Development: History, Present, and Future
PAF 9143 Greening and Growing Cities: Sustainability and Public Policy Choices
PAF 9145 Poverty and Social Policy
MPA Students are also encouraged to take related courses from Baruch or CUNY colleges that can be substituted for the above electives. (With permission of Graduate Advisement)
The Climate Change Specialization equips students to analyze the complex interplay of environmental, social-political, economic, and technological factors driving climate change and its far-reaching impacts. Students will gain skills to develop, analyze, and evaluate actions and policies meant to prepare society for the consequences of climate change. Students will emerge well-prepared to contribute meaningfully to public discourse and policymaking in the pursuit of more sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities and populations. (9 credits + 6 credits of Free Electives)
PAF 9129 Animal Rights and Welfare
PAF 9134 Urban Transportation Policy
PAF 9136 Urban Economic Development
PAF 9187 Energy and Climate Policy
PAF 9141 Community Development: History, Present, and Future
PAF 9143 Greening and Growing Cities: Sustainability and Public Policy Choices
PAF 9145 Poverty and Social Policy
PAF 9173 Program Auditing and Performance Measurement
PAF 9177 Advanced Quantitative Methods
PAF 9186 Map Making for Policy
MPA students are also encouraged to take related graduate courses from Baruch or CUNY colleges that can be substituted for the above electives. This includes directly relevant special-topics Marxe courses offered under PAF 9199 Selected Topics in Public Affairs, PAF 9299 Selected Topics in Public Management, and PAF 9699 Selected Topics in Public Policy, and, with permission of instructor, sustainability-related graduate courses offered at Zicklin. (With permission of Graduate Advisement.)