What does the required curriculum of a NASPAA accredited master of public administration (MPA) program typically look like?

Emil Robert Mackey
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:44:36 PDT

This research builds upon prior MPA Curriculum Research and regarding what the required curriculum of a Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) accredited Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program typically looks like. This research uses a mixed methods approach where qualitative Grounded Theory methods identify and classify required courses by course name. Quantitative methods calculates frequencies o f distribution and, combined with b rief qualitative statements, explain the typical NASPAA accreditation requirements across programs. This research is useful to understand the transformation of the MPA core requirements since 1989 and for existing and aspiring NASPAA accredited programs to plan and/or evaluate their required curriculum against the typically required core curriculum of NASPAA accredited programs as of 2013. Generally, this research identifies seven common requirements in a typical NASPAA accredited program of study, an average and range o f typical required credit hours per program, and discusses this research in relation to prior research, NASPAA accreditation standards, and the categories of courses typically required by 50% or more of NASPAA accredited programs in this research.