Anyone have any experience with Anna Maria College? I'm looking at their MPA program because of the Fire Service Administration concentration. My holdup is that they're not NASPAA accredited, should this be a deal-breaker or not? I know additional accreditation is usually a bonus, but is it a big deal for MPA programs? thanks
NASPAA accreditation holds zero weight, period. Don't let Anna Maria's lack of it factor in your decision to apply for their MPA program.
In most cases you are correct, but your response is very definitive without having any additional information from the OP about what he/she plans to do with the degree.
anna maria is a nice little catholic school located just outside worcester massachusetts. they have a nice soccer field. there are so many excellent schools in massachusetts that this school might suffer a bit in comparison but objectively it's a good school and no one should hesitate to enroll if their program(s) seem attractive. their grad programs produce a lot of people who are hired locally. cute little campus (i know that doesn't matter in DL) and I like worcester. it might be a bit pricey but if that's not a deterent then i'd say that you've made a decent choice.
Anna Maria is literally about 3 mins from my house. Its a great little local school that is very big among local police here as far as getting Masters degrees for promotional / Quinn Bill compensation. One of my friend's father is a a police chief in a town near Worcester and his degree is from Anna Maria. As far as the NASPAA accreditation and lack there of, I defer to Dr. Truckie on that one.
I agree as well, bear in mind that there are great programs without NASPAA accreditation; University of Chicago and Northwestern come to mind. Furthermore, if a school has the program that meets your needs, then NASPAA accreditation, or the lack thereof, should not deter you.
You can add Michigan, Princeton, UC-Berkeley, and Duke to that list. NASPAA accreditation is nowhere near as meaningful for PA/PP programs as AACSB is for business programs.
Thanks. As far as my needs - I'm not really 100% sure. I'm just in the beginning stages of at least a 20+ year career in a fire department, which I intend to retire from in 18 years. At this point, we have no educational requirements or preference for promotion. However, I'd like to get the education now (should have finished my MBA 10 years ago, but hindsight is always 20/20) while I'm still in the formal learning mode.... So basically it's just for my own edification now, yet knowing that something down the road may open up and make it worthwhile to leave where I'm at, or a new career when I'm in my 50's. That's why the NASPAA accreditation has me curious/worried that it's something I should look for being that I really don't know what the degree will get me, or where I'll be years down the road...
Does anyone here have anymore personal experience with Anna Maria or Troy University? Specifically - Master of Public Administration Online | Anna Maria College Online and Troy University - Master of Public Administration Program thanks, Trying to get squared away here before too long.
I am with you 100%. I have been researching MPAs. Many of these programmatic accreditations are acquired for marketing purpose. A few of them are necessary for state licensing, other than that, they only purpose is to pump up tuition. Some of them are over hype such as aacsb, such that many universities are not satisfied with one but will have triple accreditation or even more. Except for a very tiny niche that cares about programmatic accreditation, the rest of world cares about a legitimate reputable degree.