Our Master of Public Affairs is a one-year program of online and in-person classes that allows you to move quickly and affordably toward pursuing your professional goals with the skills you need. You’ll take courses in policy analysis, research methods, economics, and other subjects. Elective courses include policy, management, and methods.
We offer two paths to the MPA: the regular One-Year MPA, open to all applicants with a bachelor's degree, or the 4+1 MPA, open to outstanding current juniors at UMass Amherst or Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, or Smith colleges, which allows you to begin earning credits toward your graduate degree while an undergrad.
Our Master of Public Policy and Administration is a two-year program that allows students to take more elective courses, at SPP or other UMass departments, and develop an area of specialization. You’ll take elective courses and complete a capstone — a culminating project in which you apply what you’ve learned in your core courses — either as an individual research project or as a team workshop project.
MPPA students can also opt to pursue a dual degree in Business Administration, Higher Education, Public Health, or Regional Planning.
Both the One-Year MPA and the MPPA are open to full- and part-time students. The GRE is not required for any of our graduate programs.
