Public Administration Online Courses

Master of Public Administration - General Track

Increase the tools and techniques utilized in Public Administration

Taught by field-renowned practitioners, the Public Sector Management specialization of the online MPA connects you to a faculty of top professionals and a network of fellow students who will be your counterparts at the leadership level. Our MPA programs offer online classes that are interactive and put students in the heart of dynamic real world scenarios.

For those students who have recently graduated or those who are considering a career change, the MPA Direct Track focuses attention on a total of 12 courses, including the Public Administration core courses and four elective courses.

Mid-Career Track Option

Students with four years or more of administrative or managerial experience may be eligible to take the Anna Maria College MPA Mid-Career Track, allowing them to complete the MPA online degree program with only 10 required courses.

Public Administration Core Courses

MPA 501 Strategic Management of Human Capital (3 credits)
Provides an overview of how a leader can address current and emerging human capital challenges to drive organizational transformation.

MPA 502 Organizational Theories & the Public Sector (3 credits)
The study of the fundamental theory of the management development process and the analysis of employee behavior patterns.

MPA 503 Executive Leadership (3 credits)
This course focuses on the study and analysis of human behavior patterns. Special consideration is given to the role of the emergency services department management team member as a leader and motivator of people.

MPA 504 Management Policies in Government Finance (3 credits)
This course explores various aspects of local financial management including developing new revenue sources, designing a budget that includes performance reporting, conducting strategic economic development, understanding debt management and bond sales, use of modern information systems to improve financial decision, and meeting the day-to-day challenges of financial management from procurement to labor negotiations.

MPA 600 Ethics in Public Service (3 credits)
The course will address a number a number of issues including ethics theory and the history of ethics, ethics and consciousness, ethics and self-control, emotional fallacies and ethics, tools for ethical thinking, ethics and professionalism in public service, the value of ethics in preventing public corruption, and creating public organizational ethics. Real-world ethical failures in public administration will be discussed.

MPA 602 Managerial Statistics for Public Managers (3 credits)
Focuses on probability and statistics with an emphasis on data analysis, including univariate and multivariate techniques. Statistical problem solving is engaged using various data sources.

MPA 603 Public Policy (3 credits)
This course uses case studies and other materials to help students to develop excellence in oral and written skills in the formation of public policy at the senior management level. Drawing on previous coursework in ethics, quantitative analysis and management students will develop models for solving significant problems in the public arena coupled with the planning strategy for implementing these policies.

MPA 604 Strategic Planning for Public Managers (3 credits)
Through the utilization and application of risk assessment and master planning concepts, this program will guide the student through the process of problem identification and comparative analysis. This course will focus upon identifying the benefits and the development of a long term planning effort within the student’s local jurisdiction.

Elective Courses

MPA 500 Conflict Management (3 credits)
Focuses on the resolution of a variety of potential conflicts in the public sector including intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup and intergroup. Emphasizes analysis of alternative dispute resolution, negotiation and arbitration.

MPA 601 Professional Government (3 credits)
This course provides a thorough grounding in the theory behind successful management practices, but also shows how theory works in the real world to assist in: providing community leadership; working with the governing body; promoting the community’s future; managing people, money and information effectively; implementing policy; raising productivity; evaluating programs; and working with other organizations to achieve your goals. The course also points to the human side of professional government management.

MPA 529 Public Sector Labor Relations (3 credits)
Covers the development, structure and current status of labor unions in the United States. The course examines management attitudes toward the bargaining process, the evolution of labor legislation, government policy toward labor management relations (i.e. changes in the composition of the labor force, white collar organizations soliciting bargaining units).

MPA 610 Capstone Project (3 credits)
Designed to give students the chance to apply the knowledge and skills that they have acquired throughout their graduate education to real-world situations. A capstone project is designed for those entering directly into a specific field, without plan for postgraduate study.

MPA 611 Applied Research (3 credits)
Designed to give students the opportunity to do focused research on a topic from their respective field of study. Applied research is designed primarily for those planning to continue to doctoral or other postgraduate studies.

Learn More

Click here to learn more about the General Track of AMC's online Master of Public Administration or call 877-265-3201.