Master of Public Administration

Program objectives

The Sciences Po Master in Public Administration is aimed at students interested in careers in public structures – at local and national level – or in private-sector companies working closely with public authorities.

Main orientations and specific features

Now organized around five programs (general, public health, energy, culture and local governance), the curriculum taught in the two years of the program aims to produce students capable of exercising high-level operating responsibilities immediately after graduation.

The curriculum for all these programs is based on the same model: a common curriculum of core subjects, mandatory for all students of the Master, and a specialization depending on the program chosen.

Whatever programme they choose, students taking this master must follow:

• an intensive program of instruction in public law, economics, public finances, social issues/European issues, and management tools (accounting and financial analysis followed by a choice of specialization);
• specialized courses depending on the program chosen or, for students choosing the general concentration, elective courses;
• a long internship in the third semester;
• optional workshops and seminars focusing on case-studies or professional know-how.

Lastly, an apprenticeship track can be organized for the motivated students, whatever their programme. This apprenticeship can be done in a public or a private organization.

Career opportunities

On completion of this intensive and demanding curriculum, graduates from the Master in Public Administration are prepared both for higher civil service examinations (State, local government, hospitals, etc.) and for a direct entry into the labour market in companies and organizations operating at the crossroads between public and private sectors.

Although the public sector is a major source of job opportunities for graduates of the Master in Public Administration, almost half of them work in the private sector, in public-sector consulting and audit firms, law firms specializing in public law, financial institutions working with the public authorities, large industrial companies working under public procurement contracts or in various positions dedicated to institutional relations.