Email
617-495-7864
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Littauer Building, Room 126
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Elevate your impact as a public leader
The Master in Public Administration Program is for aspiring leaders with real-world experience and graduate-level coursework in economics, public policy, or management.
The Master in Public Administration (MPA) curriculum is flexible. You create a study plan that reflects your academic interests, focuses on your personal and professional aspirations, and integrates across disciplines.
You may also decide to pursue a concurrent degree in business, law, medicine, or other professional fields. You’ll earn two degrees in less time and acquire even more skills you can use to make a difference in the world.
“HKS provided opportunities for me to expand the narrative of what diversity looks like in foreign policy and foreign service.”
—Korde Innis MPA 2023
The MPA curriculum is flexible. You’ll create your own 64-credit study plan that reflects your academic interests and professional aspirations.
As an MPA student, you’ll take eight credits in a Policy Area of Concentration as well as four credits in each of these key areas:
You’ll select your remaining credits to support your unique intellectual and professional objectives. You can take classes across academic disciplines at HKS and cross-register into courses at other Harvard graduate schools as well as at MIT Sloan School of Management and The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
You might consider pursuing a second degree concurrently if you’re interested in how the world’s public challenges can be addressed at the intersection of business, law, medicine, design, or other fields.
Pursuing a concurrent degree reduces coursework and residency requirements and makes it possible to earn two degrees in a shorter amount of time.
Concurrent degree students complete 48 credits at HKS, including four credits in each of the key areas:
Concurrent degree students are not required to fulfill the Policy Area of Concentration requirement.
The MPA Program consists of four semesters of full-time coursework in residence at HKS.
To graduate, you must:
HKS faculty members are among the most influential leaders and thinkers in their fields. They have contributed vital research and scholarship to their fields. Served in U.S. administrations. Founded learning labs to assist local communities. Led negotiations to reduce nuclear stockpiles. Reported on human rights abuses. Led efforts to address climate change. Advised governments and companies on gender equality.
They are doers as well as thinkers, shaping public policy and devising entrepreneurial approaches to public problems at the local, national, and international levels.
