With the O’Neill School’s Washington, D.C. Accelerator Program, you can earn your Master of Public Affairs from the top-ranked program in the nation while gaining experience in D.C. for a full year before graduating.
In addition to learning and working in Washington, D.C., you’ll gain access to powerful networking opportunities through our locally based partners and O’Neill alumni dedicated to your success.
With our D.C. Accelerator Program, you get the same curriculum as our residential MPA, but with the opportunity to immerse yourself in all that Washington, D.C. has to offer, including connections with nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
You’ll spend your first year on the beautiful Bloomington, Indiana campus, and then dive into a year-long internship in Washington, D.C., while continuing a mixture of online and in-person courses all taught by the same expert faculty from O'Neill.
Just like with our residential MPA program, you’ll complete a semester-long capstone course, but with a local client in D.C. where you’ll take what you’ve learned and apply it to a real-world situation. No additional time commitment required and tuition will remain the same as the traditional MPA.
You can apply to the Washington, D.C. Accelerator Program as part of the regular admission cycle for the MPA, but you must apply by January 15. Space is limited to 24 students per year.
If you apply to the D.C. program and are not accepted, you will still be considered for the residential MPA program as part of the same application.
Your internship will give you hands-on experience and valuable networking opportunities with Washington, D.C. organizations. The O’Neill Career Hub is available to assist you in finding an internship that best fits your career goals.
The following organizations have recently hired our students and graduates for internship and full-time positions:
