What do MPA/MPP Students Think About Graduate Degrees, Schools, and Careers?

NASPAA conducted a survey of 864 MPA/MPP students in March 2007.  These results will help your school understand what your students and prospective students have done in the past and are planning to do in the future.  Key information from the survey includes:

·         46% of students surveyed plan to work in the nonprofit sector to use their MPA/MPP degree.*

 

·         In considering the MPA/MPP degree, students responded that they most frequently considered pursuing a law degree (45%), an MBA (34%), or a Masters in International Relations (20%); other degree choices can be seen in the graph below.**

·         MPA/MPP students have diverse academic backgrounds.  While many students still pursue our degrees from a political science background, the following graph – derived from the student survey results – shows that other academic interests are looking forward to serving in the public sector as well. 

Survey respondents answered many others questions about the MPA/MPP degrees and their personal characteristics, including some open-ended questions where they responded with terms they associate with the MPA/MPP degrees.  To view the executive summary as well as full student survey results, please visit http://www.naspaa.org/students/surveys/student3.07.asp.

*See NASPAA Student Survey, Question 13

**See NASPAA Student Survey, Question 11

***See NASPAA Student Survey, Question 8