What are the core curricular components of Master’s-level public management education and how is learning within them assessed?

Does an MPA, or MPP, or similarly-named degree from one institution mean the same as a degree with the same name from another institution, either in the same country or from different parts of the world? Does the same degree designation mean the same, or at least similar, content? Are graduates being assessed on the same competencies? Are there common professional standards? The truth is that, apart from a few scattered and limited studies, we don’t know. This paper aims to provide at least a partial answer through a detailed analysis of the curricular content of leading MPP and MPA programs. Over the last sixty years, the MPA (together now with the MPP) has become the globally recognized “professional” degree for those wishing to pursue management careers and senior positions in the public service. In tandem with the growth in the degrees themselves has been the growth of national and international associations representing the degree-granting institutions, for example, the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA), the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), and the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA). The associations, like all associations, were originally founded to further the interests of their members, but as associations representing academic programs, they also naturally had an interest in the quality and the content of those programs. Unsurprisingly, each of the associations has its own accreditation system with its own standards, though there have been efforts at coordination if not convergence (i.e., NAPSAA and EGPA offer joint accreditations).