Hi all. I've been recently accepted to the graduate program at Amberton. I'm leaning more towards the MS in managerial science. Short background on myself and long term professional goals: MS Criminal Justice Administration and I'll be completing the certificate in public administration from Indiana State in the summer. I'm a corrections treatment specialist with the Hawaii Dept of Public Safety Corrections Division. Long term goals are something in the lines of public policy, planning, strategic management, budget analysis, you get the point. Will I be better off going for a MPA as opposed to an MS in management? I'm a military reservist so tuition assistance would fully cover my expenses at Amberton. Furthermore, Amberton accepted 12 graduate credits that I took at my hometown university. I'm targeting fall possibly summer classes at Amberton. I'm just wondering if I would be better off with an MPA since its related I am a career public servant. Some of the RA MPA programs are quite pricey. Any civil servants out there let me know what you think. Thanks all.
If you've got an MSCJA, you've probably already got the public sector education wrapped up unless you get into the planning and budgeting end, such as a city financial analyst outside of the criminal justice realm...which I doubt. The MS in Management is kind of a universal utility degree in that "management" is a profession in of itself. Some may disagree with me, but I would choose the MSMS from Amberton. Great school by the way. 12 Transfer credits...kind of makes it almost a "no brainer".
If your goal is to work in public policy I personally think the MPA is the degree to have. There are also some schools which offer MPP degrees that are also very good. Alot of the public policy jobs I've seen require the MPA/MPP degree. There are a ton of very good MPA programs from well established bricks and mortar schools that can be accomplished online. The program your talking about sounds pretty good but I would personally recommend an MPA program.
I ove Amberton and would highly recommend it to anyone. If you decide that what you're really looking for is a great online MPA , though, you might want to take a look at the University of Baltimore (www.ubalt.edu). They have a very highly rated online MPA and it is a great school.
Thanks all I think I'll be going with the MS in managerial science or human relations/business from Amberton. The low cost and transfer credit ratio did it for me. And with military tuition assistance covering all of the expenses, I can't beat it. I would've paid some out of pocket expenses with Univ or Baltimore and Troy U. But thanks for the links, if cost was not a factor I would've jumped at the opportunity. I'll be graduating with the certificate in public administration and public personnel administration from ISU in the summer, hopefully that will count for something. In fact, I think the knowledge I gain from those classes will compliment my education from Amberton well. The PUBA courses from ISU at least give me a broad understanding and perspective in public policy issues. Thank you all for your assistance.
