By Joe Garvey
Â鶹´«Ã½'s School of Public Service in the Strome College of Business has been honored for having one of the Best Master's in Public Administration programs for 2018 by OnlineMasters.com.
Â鶹´«Ã½ is one of 50 universities that were recognized. Among the others were East Carolina, Liberty and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which was rated No. 1.
"When we began the online option in January 2014 for students to totally complete their degree online, we didn't expect the demand to come from distance students and local students," said David Chapman, graduate program director of Â鶹´«Ã½'s master's in public administration. "Many local students have pressures from work, travel, family and personal situations, and we are able to provide them with an affordable education that meets their needs. Additionally, many distance students are in underserved areas, and we provide them the flexibility that they need to complete their graduate degree."
The website citation said Â鶹´«Ã½ "has more than 30 years of experience in preparing students for careers through distance learning. The online Master of Public Administration degree program consists of 13 total courses for 39 credits and can be completed within two years for full-time students and four years for part-time students."
It also gave Old Dominion a "Leaders in Distance Learning" citation.
"This speaks to the amazing work that your program is doing and demonstrates to our 100,000 monthly visitors that your program provides quality education that can help students with their career aspirations," said Barbara Montgomery, program recognition manager at OnlineMasters.com.
Â鶹´«Ã½ also has been rated No. 15 on the 2019 list of Most Affordable Online Colleges for MPA Degrees, by OnlineU.org.
The MPA program is designed to enhance knowledge and competencies in five context areas:
- Public management processes, including public budgeting and personnel systems.
- Organizational design processes and behavior.
- Political, legal and ethical concepts and issues of public administration.
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques.
- Policy analysis and program evaluation.
