About the M.P.A. Program

Our mission is to prepare public service leaders. Upon graduation our students will have the ability to think critically and creatively about public issues, the dedication and capacity to serve a diverse community and the skills to enter a professional position in a public organization. To accomplish our mission, our program provides the following:

• a rigorous core curriculum that examines the theoretical underpinnings of public service and provides concentrated areas of study in arts management, environmental policy, nonprofit management, and urban and regional planning.
• an environment that nurtures a commitment to service.
• opportunities to support collaboration and the creation of partnerships among communities and public service organizations.
  

Public Service Values

The public service values emphasized by our program are reflected in our mission, goals, curriculum, and program activities. The M.P.A. Program advances:

• Democratic Institutional Values: public administration professionals must contribute to the institutional efforts that serve the public interest and the expectations of the public and its representatives.
• Professional Values: public administration professionals must serve with competence, excellence, efficiency, objectivity, and impartiality.
• Ethical Values: public administration professionals must act at all times in ways that uphold the public trust.
• Social Justice Values: public administration professionals' exercise of authority and responsibility must be dictated by respect for human dignity, fairness, and social equity.

M.P.A. Diversity Plan

The M.P.A. Program is committed to the diligent and active dismantling of systems of oppression and exalting an anti-racist and social justice value system. Diversity initiatives are integrated into our curriculum, experiential opportunities, and programming, recruitment and retention practices, and in creating and perpetuating an inclusice environment.

• MPA Diversity Plan

Applied Focus

Students are introduced to practical administrative and analytic skills in a variety of ways. Not only do many of our core faculty members have practical work experience from which to draw upon, the program recruits adjunct faculty when needed to teach elective courses.

These practitioners provide students with a valuable, hands-on perspective directly related to their professional work experiences.

The program also maintains contacts with professional mentors though a national network of alumni and a local Advisory Committee. In addition, the program together with the MPASA (The Master of Public Administration Student Association) and the Riley Center, sponsor a variety of conferences, workshops, training sessions, and speakers on an annual basis.

Finally, our pre-service students gain practical experience by participating in an internship which allows them to work alongside practitioners on a daily basis. 

NASPAA Accreditation

The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) is the membership association of graduate programs in public administration, public policy and public affairs.

The M.P.A. program at the College of Charleston received its first official accreditation by the NASPAA in 2014 and was most recently re-accredited in 2021-22. The program's next accreditation review is scheduled for 2028.

Accreditation demonstrates our commitment to the highest quality education in public administration. It also means that we have named and regularly assess the knowledge, skills, and attitudes we expect our students to demonstrate upon graduation.