From City Hall to overseas capitals, understanding public finance and budgeting is essential to provide the support to transform ideas into reality. In the Public Financial Administration concentration, you'll learn the theory and practice of raising public revenue, allocating resources through the budgeting process, and managing public assets and other fiscal resources. Just part of the reason U.S. News & World Report ranked us #1 in this area.
The applied and experiential nature of the advanced courses in this concentration will prepare you well for a variety of positions in government finance and budgeting, management, and applied program and policy analysis.
22
Public Finance MPA students (Fall 2018)
1:2
Faculty: student ratio
86%
All O’Neill MPA placement rate
You'll begin by mastering the fundamentals reflected in our MPA program's core competencies. These five courses (15 credit hours) will give you well-developed analytical skills and a broad understanding of policy issues and government processes. In addition to these highly transferable core skills, the Public Financial Administration concentration requires three of the following four courses.
The following is an example of courses. Please work with your advisor as you make your schedule.
The remainder of the coursework comes in a wide range of elective courses. These will allow you to tailor your Public Financial Administration program to your own specific interests. Working with your advisor, you'll be able to select from many elective options, including the following,
Combining your Public Financial Administration concentration with another MPA concentration—such as International Development, Policy Analysis, or Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management—can offer you unique advantages in pursuing a particular career. As they help you design your program, our faculty will work to accommodate your specialized professional interests.
Your MPA program offers far more than traditional lectures and lessons. You'll also get the benefit of experiential learning—typically through an approved internship. What's more, your concentration's coursework will culminate in a project-oriented course—a capstone—that integrates and allows you to apply the knowledge you gained throughout the program.
Current and past placements and internships:You can join the O’Neill Public Finance Association (PFA), a professional student organization for the public financial administration concentration that offers networking and current information on events in the public financial industry.
“The courses and professors prepared me with the necessary base knowledge and skills to not only secure a professional role in a budget office, but to make a positive impact on citizens in that role. I would not be here without the O’Neill School.”
“Obtaining an MPA through O’Neill further solidified my genuine interest in the field of Public Finance with my employer. It enabled me to seamlessly transition into a different phase of my career with the firm.”
“I am proud of the education I received at O’Neill that helped me to become a clearer thinker and communicator. It is invaluable to have the capacity to support positions on any side of the proverbial aisle with technical integrity and rigor.”
