Department of Political Science
Master of Public Administration

The Master of Public Administration program at Auburn University is a NASPAA-accredited program with diverse course offerings, dedicated faculty actively engaged in research and an internship requirement that builds successful leaders for careers in public service. The two-year program provides an environment for networking, research opportunities and program personalization through various graduate certificate options or a dual-degree program with Community Planning. Students come from a variety of backgrounds, some directly from undergraduate studies, while others have significant work or military experience. 

Our Mission

The mission of the Auburn University MPA program is to advance effective and accountable public service in a dynamic, increasingly global environment that includes government agencies and nonprofit organizations. We accomplish this using a collaborative model of teaching, research and outreach that instills in a diverse group of students the capacity for civic agency, providing them with the knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make a difference in the civic life of their communities.

Our program emphasizes the necessity of professional knowledge, skills and abilities that help ensure our students are capable of serving as effective, accountable leaders and managers in government and nonprofit organizations.

We view the environment of public service as increasingly diverse, dynamic and globally interconnected. Therefore, we strive to create students who are global citizens that embrace the benefits of diversity. We also seek to create students who are flexible, innovative and capable of handling changing dynamics in the public service environment. Read more about this philosophy in our MPA Program handbook.

Our collaborative model of teaching, research and service as echoed in our mission is carefully designed to instill what we call "civic agency" in our students. This means we not only equip them with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to be successful in public service but that we also seek to instill in them the motivation to make a difference in local and global communities.

Most of our graduates go on to hold positions in public agencies, nonprofit organizations or the private sector. Our alumni are effective members of their communities, whether at work or in volunteer activities.

Nationally Ranked, Internationally Recognized 

US News and World Report ranked the MPA program at Auburn University #70 among best public affairs graduate programs in the nation. The program was also ranked internationally as one of the top 200 public administration programs in 2019.  

Job Placement Statistics for Auburn MPA Program from 2021-22 Cohort¹

Graduation Completion²

¹ The post-graduation outcome statistics are based on students who graduated during degree year 2021-2022 and includes full- and part-time students, for a total of 32 students. The unknown students are predominantly international students that we have not been able to contact post-graduation.

² The graduate rate statistic is based on the percentage of the full 2017-2018 academic year matriculating cohort who graduated within 2 years and 4 years. This includes both full-time and part-time students, for a total of 18 students in that cohort. Source: Auburn University Office of Institutional Research.