The Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) historically has been a professional Master's degree that provides training in public policy, project and program implimentation. The degree traditionally focussed on public administration at the local, state and federal level as well as in the nonprofit sector. Over time, there has been a convergence between the Master of Public Administration and the Master of Public Policy degrees, due to the realization that policy/project/program implimentation could benefit from an understanding of policy analysis, and vice versa. Today, the course offerings of many M.P.A. and M.P.P. programs are similar, with M.P.A. programs providing training in policy analysis, and M.P.P. programs providing coursework in program implementation.
