Mission Statements

The Trachtenberg School enhances the quality of democratic governance. We equip aspiring and current public service professionals coming from wide-ranging backgrounds with the tools to analyze policy and lead and manage organizations and teams. Our faculty’s scholarship informs debate on current and emerging policy and administration issues. We foster effective teaching to prepare students for active and reflective engagement in pursuit of the public interest.

We value: respect for differences of all kinds, social equity, kindness, collaboration, fairness, civility, humility and inclusivity

MPA Mission Statement

The Master of Public Administration program at the Trachtenberg School prepares students for leading and managing public service organizations and programs in all sectors.

MPP Mission Statement

The Master of Public Policy program at the Trachtenberg School prepares students for leading, managing, and conducting public policy analysis, evaluation, and research in all sectors.

Master of Arts in Environmental Resource Policy (ENRP) Mission Statement

The ENRP MA program prepares students for environmental policy careers in government, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. Our students are able to work at the intersection of the natural and human worlds on a broad and ever-evolving set of issues such as climate change, urban sustainability, biodiversity, environmental justice, land, air, and water pollution, renewable and nonrenewable resource use, and food and agriculture.

PhD Mission Statement

The multidisciplinary PhD program in Public Policy and Administration is designed to develop a range of competencies needed to undertake sophisticated research in public policy and public administration. Fundamental to the development of these competencies is a mastery of subjects in multiple academic disciplines, including politics, economics and quantitative and/or qualitative methods in policy research. Built upon the diversity and strengths of academic departments and faculty distributed throughout the Trachtenberg School and the University community, the programs offers an exceptional education across these disciplines.

Commitment to Teaching Quality

A Statement of the Trachtenberg School

We value:

Providing outstanding learning experiences for all students;
Providing useful and timely feedback to our students on their work;
Consistently receiving and incorporating feedback from our students and alumni about ways to enhance our teaching; and
Working collaboratively with our faculty colleagues, alumni, and employers to ensure the integrity and saliency of our curricula.

We use multiple processes to obtain data to help us evaluate our courses and our curricula:

Each individual course is evaluated by all students using forms that include both close-ended and open-ended questions;
Feedback on the curriculum and all school services and support is collected from all graduating MPA and MPP students during the capstone classes;
Capstone presentations are evaluated to assess student competencies by faculty and alumni using structured feedback forms;
The overall program is reviewed using survey findings from alumni about their experience in the program;
The School’s program directors, as well as the faculty, meet at least annually to consider the student and alumni feedback about the curricula;
The School’s program directors meet at least annually to consider student feedback about the courses and instructors;
The School’s Advisory Board is consulted at biannual meetings about curricular matters and competencies needed in the workplace.

Trachtenberg School by the Numbers

Hajar stands with Washington Monument in background

32 core faculty
11 part-time faculty teaching courses related to the Trachtenberg School degrees
428 students
144 MPA students
142 MPP students
40 MA in ENRP students
66 PhD Students
36 Certificate students
Median Undergrad GPA: 3.5

International student talks with fellow female

88 Typical GRE verbal percentile*
57 Typical GRE quantitative percentile*
84 Typical GRE writing percentile*
25 Median age of students in the program
19-50 Age range of students
25% Students who are of racial minority heritage
10% Students who are of international heritage
78% Students who attend full-time
22% Students who attend part-time

* Only 14% of incoming students submitted the GRE.

Recent Graduate Employment Statistics

For the 146 students who graduated with MPA and MPP degrees in August or December 2019 or May 2020 (invited to walk in May 2020) we learned the following employment information through surveys and research six months following their graduation. This represents 96.5% of the graduates.

MPA Employment Statistics

Federal Government in the U.S.	14
State, City, County or other Local Government in the U.S.	7
Government not in the U.S. or International Quasi-governmental	0
Nonprofit (both domestic and internationally oriented)	15
Private Sector -- Research/Consulting	15
Private Sector (not Research/Consulting)	7
Further Education	1
Military Service	5
Unemployed (both seeking and not seeking employment)	4
Total Graduates with Employment Information	68

MPP Employment Statistics

Federal Government in the U.S.	20
State, City, County or other Local Government in the U.S.	2
Government not in the U.S. or International Quasi-governmental	4
Nonprofit (both domestic and internationally oriented)	18
Private Sector -- Research/Consulting	10
Private Sector (not Research/Consulting)	8
Further Education	4
Military Service	1
Unemployed (both seeking and not seeking employment)	6
Total Graduates with Employment Information	73

MPA and MPP Graduation Rates

MPA Graduation Rates 2012-2016

Cohort	Number	Graduated in 2 Years	Graduated in 4 Years	Total Graduated
2012	62	61%	0%	92%
2013	54	70%	1%	96%
2014	57	61%	2%	93%
2015	68	58%	0%	90%
2016	48	56%	2%	86%

MPP Graduation Rates 2012-2016

Cohort	Number	Graduated in 2 Years	Graduated in 4 Years	Total Graduated
2012	57	58%	5%	96%
2013	62	60%	0%	89%
2014	55	73%	5%	93%
2015	67	71%	0%	92%
2016	50	66%	2%	86%