Salary Range for Degree²

Note that 53% of professionals with an MPA or an MPP earn more than $75,001 a year.

• 17% of Professionals earn $55,000 - 65,000
• 10% of Professionals earn $65,000 - 75,000
• 16% of Professionals earn $75,001 - 85,000
• 7% of Professionals earn $85,001 - 95,000
• 13% of Professionals earn $95,001 - 125,000
• 7% of Professionals earn $125,000+

Satisfied with Current Job²

Overwhelmingly, professionals with an MPA or MPP are happy in their careers.

• Level of Autonomy: 90.7%
• Job Tasks: 89.7%
• Value to Society: 89.2%
• Work Environment: 89.2%
• Level of Responsibility: 87.6%
• Level of Challenge: 87%
• Salary: 73.1%
• Opportunities to be Promoted: 70.8%

Explore MPAP Roles on these Career Paths

Our graduates put their skills to use as project managers or program directors, or as public policy analysts, public affairs specialists, and consultants across all sectors.

Policy Analysis

Learning to use the different frameworks for policy analysis and applying logic and ethics to the understanding of government policy prepares you for a policy analyst role. Policy analysts may collect or research data related to a particular policy, estimate the effects of new proposed policies and make recommendations, evaluate existing programs, and communicate this information to public officials and other decision-makers.

Coursework prepares you to:

• Analyze policy problems using statistical, economic, and budgetary tools
• Produce a well-researched, logically constructed policy memo that examines policy problems and assesses and recommends potential solutions
• Monitor and evaluate the outcomes, impacts, and performance of public, policy programs
• Formulate your vision of strong policy analysis and its role in the policy process and develop your ethical grounding

The online Master’s in Public Policy and Administration prepares you for roles such as a level-2 public policy analyst, which typically requires 4-7 years of experience and has a median salary of $91,750.³

With continued experience, you could pursue a government liaison level-3 position and earn a median salary of $132,000 a year.⁴ In this role, you will monitor and analyze proposed legislation, emerging issues and trends and prepare reports to inform and support the organization.

With a decade of experience, you could become a government liaison level-4. At this point, you work independently and most likely in a specialized area. Your responsibilities revolve around solutions and possibly leadership in your area of expertise. You will earn a median salary of $172,000.⁵

Networking Associations

The Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) is committed to the improvement of public policy research, analysis, and education.

• Offers a yearly research conference, in which members are encouraged to present and interact with other leaders in the industry as well as in academia
• Publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of Policy Analysis & Management
• Provides many opportunities for students and professionals to exchange ideas and practices

Public Administration and Management

Studying topics in legal and financial issues, organization management, project management, and human resources gives you the grit, grace and skill sets needed to succeed in public administration and management roles. You graduate able to:

• Analyze and resolve practical problems and decisions encountered by public managers
• Manage projects and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and budgetary implications of programs
• Manage and lead employees in small and large public organizations with individual rights and duties in mind
• Shape and influence organizations and their interactions with relevant stakeholders in the public and private sector
• Develop and communicate sound advice for policymakers grounded in understanding the constitutional and legal context of public action

Public administration applies to a variety of potential career paths, including those in municipal, county, and state management as well as in the federal government. Public administrators work in a wide range of sectors, including:

• Education
• Parks and Recreation
• Social Services
• Law and Policy Enforcement
• Utilities
• Transportation
• Urban Planning

In the federal government, salaries are publicized annually in General Schedule (GS) pay tables. A new employee with a master’s degree is typically paid at a GS-9 level. However, if you’ve already been working in a government role, your master’s degree could move you up two paygrades, from a GS-9 to a GS-11, or even from a GS-11 to a GS 13.

Each pay grade on the scale can also evolve within 10 steps to produce a salary range for that level.

• GS-9 $47,097 – $61,227
• GS-11 $56,983 – $74,074
• GS-13 $81,216 – $105,579

Networking Associations

• The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) serves as an overarching body offering conferences, and webinars with sector-specific organizations in public administration.
• The American Public Works Association (APWA) connects professionals in public and private organizations that provide products and services in this sector. APWA offers local chapters for members to meet, network and join task forces.
• LinkedIn has more than 500 groups for “public administration,” including many that are geo-specific.
• Job vacancies in the federal government are advertised through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s USAJOBS site.

Nonprofit Management

Throughout your coursework you will cover the unique operational, financial, and managerial aspects of nonprofit management so that you can graduate able to:

• Lead and manage an entire nonprofit organization, both its internal relations as well as its relations with stakeholders and government entities
• Meet organizational nonprofit challenges inherent in delivering public services
• Account for the performance of public program delivery
• Navigate budgetary and financial constraints in the public sector

Nonprofit work represents 10.2% of private sector employment and is responsible for 12.3 million jobs and $6.7 billion in wages annually.⁶

When you graduate with a master’s degree, you may start out as a program manager with a salary of $92,718 per year.⁷ With experience and success, you could become an associate director of a nonprofit, with a median salary of $126,516 a year,⁸ and after that, a program executive director with a median salary of $144, 828.⁹

Networking Associations

• The National Council of Nonprofits has an association in each state to help connect local nonprofits.
• The Alliance for Nonprofit Management promotes the development of nonprofit professionals through annual conferences and extensive online resources.
• ImpactFlow offers a LinkedIn group called Nonprofit & Philanthropy Jobs.

State and Local Management

Students looking to work at the municipal or state level are at an advantage with a combined degree in public administration and public policy. You will understand how to straddle the analytic and management tasks within the ever-present political context. Graduate able to use a lasting set of organizational, managerial, and leadership skills so you can:

• Diagnose problems and devise solutions for practical problems, especially those at the state and local level
• Assess budget proposals critically and determine the financial impacts of different courses of action
• Define various types of government revenue and spending and the factors driving both

With these skills, students are prepared to enter their state or local government offices and improve how the local programs and government departments and agencies operate. Public service employees at the state and local levels may begin as researchers with a salary of $59,740 a year.¹⁰ They could progress to city management or a position managing a state’s department, and earn a median salary of $104,00 a year.¹¹

Networking Associations

• International City/County Management Association (ICMA), which establishes national standards for best practices in city and county management and offers training opportunities.
• The Governing Institute publishes Governing magazine and regularly holds events and conferences in various parts of the country. The Institute also publicizes evolving best practices in government at the state and local levels.
• Like their federal counterparts, state and city public administration professionals can advance their careers by joining the American Society for Public Administration. The ASPA serves its members through professional development initiatives and annual conferences.

Government Consulting

Students who expect to work in this challenging field must have an in-depth understanding of the way that different organizations function in the public and private sectors. They are often called to seamlessly switch between working in government and operating in a for-profit environment. You graduate able to:

• Understand how public organizations are structured and their limitations compared to private companies
• Develop best practices for public organizations within the required framework established by a constitutional and administrative law
• Strategize to analyze the effects of programs and policies
• Respond to requests for proposals and manage projects on time and on budget

Joining a consulting firm is a common career path for graduates in public administration and public policy. Consultants bring specialized competencies to the table to assess a program’s efficiencies and make reform and improvement recommendations to programs. Typically, students who wish to start on the path of government consulting start as management analysts or auditors.

At the government level, the median income for management analysts is $81,090per year.¹² With many years of experience, government consultants may become an executive in government with an annual salary near $104,730 a year, or choose to work within professional services and earn an average salary of $208,000 or more.¹³

Networking Associations

Government consultants enjoy access to a premier consulting association:

• The Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC USA)
  • The IMC USA offers a professional certification in management consulting and a variety of networking events, such as roundtables, forums and workshops in its local chapters.

Budgeting and Financial Management

Coursework in the MPAP curriculum prepares you to balance competing needs to determine the most effective method in how to finance important public programs. It prepares you to grasp the political and legal contexts that public budgets operate within at all levels of government. Graduate ready for this career path able to:

• Examine problems and assess alternative courses of action
• Track program performance and conduct cost estimates and evaluations
• Evaluate policies and budget priorities based on:
  • Factors driving revenues and expenditures
  • The efficacy of revenue-generating programs
  • Tradeoffs and priorities between alternative revenue-raising and expenditure programs
  • The budgetary effects of expenditure programs on the population as a whole, as well as on the debt burden of future generations

Government funds at any level require careful management to ensure that resources are used effectively and efficiently.

Public administration and policy graduates working in financial management help ensure that budgets for policy initiatives and goals are in line with the needs of constituents. They may create budgets, estimate budgetary impacts, account for funds, analyze the use of funds, collect fees and some taxes, or study the implications of the use of public funds.

People in this field often start out as budget analysts in local, state or federal government, where 46% of them work and earn between $77,000 and $87,000 a year.¹⁴ With experience, you could step into a financial manager role in government and earn an average income of $123,010.¹⁵

Networking Associations

• The American Association for Budget and Program Analysis supports public finance professionals across the country through their peer-reviewed journal, Public Budgeting & Finance, summer internships for students, career development resources, and yearly conferences.
• You will find numerous groups online, including Public Finance International, and several national and regional groups devoted to public finance on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Career Services

American University’s Career Center offers its services to online and on-campus students as well as to all alumni, so you will continue to receive support for as long as you need it.

This means you will have access to resources for your job search, career advising, internships, and scholarships. You can also network, look for jobs, and apply for positions by making an account at AU Career Web, our online career search tool.

Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF)

Online MPAP Graduates Join Esteemed PMF Program

Every year, approximately 6,000 public administration and policy graduate students apply for the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program in hopes of joining its prestigious ranks. The PMF program, established by executive order in 1977, was designed to provide a pipeline of qualified professionals who could bring their skills and expertise to the federal government.

Landing a fellowship means a paid, two-year appointment working for the federal government. Alumni of the program include senators, diplomats, and federal program directors — becoming a PMF finalist can jump-start the careers of civil servants and provide them with a powerful network.

In 2022, about 7% of PMF applicants became finalists, and only 33% of those were selected for a fellowship.¹⁶

The extensive testing, resume evaluation, and essay writing processes are intense, and for most, the PMF experience ends with the application process. But with support from peers and faculty, the number of PMF appointments to American University grads outnumbers those from all other universities in the nation — in 2022, 41% of our PMF finalists were awarded a fellowship.¹⁶

Dedicated to Your Success

American University actively encourages its top students who are interested in a federal public service career to apply for the PMF program and provides detailed online information sessions.

After applying, candidates must take an online test and submit a résumé and transcript. Top-performing, first-round candidates are named finalists and are eligible for an appointment as a Fellow with a participating federal agency.

While it’s a challenging process, American University prepares its candidates for each stage.

First step: The online test

One secret to the school’s success: American University has a Blackboard site set up with study guides and offers prep workshops for students who plan to take the three-hour test.

For finalists: Connections and networking

If selected, finalists have one year to apply for positions available only to Fellows. Last year, there were 550 finalists. American University connects its finalists with alumni through networking sessions in which finalists receive tips on applying for these positions. This dramatically improves their chances of success when applying. Because of the school’s efforts and support, 98 percent of American University’s finalists become Fellows.

Built to address the real-world needs of policy professionals and public administrators, the online MPAP program offers experiences that truly prepare graduates to make a difference. With many opportunities to collaborate, network, and take on realistic challenges, the program produces outstanding graduates.

Alumni Employers

As passionate change-makers, our alumni are responsible for using their policy skills to make an impact. You can join an incredible set of AU alumni who work in diverse roles across sectors and organizations.

Rigorous Courses

Online courses are as challenging as their on-campus counterparts and taught by the same connected faculty members and prominent lecturers.

100% Support

New-student orientation, 24/7 help desk for technical issues, a student services coordinator, financial aid advisers, and more are all available to ensure your success.

Expert Faculty

Home to some of the most acclaimed scholars and thought leaders in the world, you’ll learn from award-winning scholars and policymakers, diplomats, authors, artists, attorneys, scientists, journalists, and more.

Collaborative Learning

Use virtual tools to talk about your coursework, work in teams with classmates, build strong connections, network with others and ask your professor questions and turn in assignments.