Hi everyone: I don't post here very often but this forum has really helped me select a program and university and I hope that sharing my experience will someday help someone else with their decision. Last weekend I graduated from the University of Colorado - Denver with a Master's in Public Administration. I did it all online and I can say that I had a very positive experience with UCD most of the time. I thought the profs were great, the quality of instruction was high, dealing with the administration was easy and I like the fact that they do not make a distinction between online and B&M students. In fact, as an "online" student you can still sign up for in-person courses if they fit your schedule and they offer intensive 3 weekend courses that you can fly to Denver for if you want (but you definitely do not need to take any classes in person on campus). The graduation ceremony was also very cool and well organized (obviously not a deciding factor just the cherry on the cake :veryhappy: ) Finally, I think my degree cost around $20k which was manageable over the almost 3 years it took me and in my opinion was worth the money for what I got. I have a couple of nitpicks with UCD however. Sometimes their administration is a bit disorganized (for example the course rotation schedule on the website had not been updated since 2009 when I looked at it to select my 2012 classes!). Some semesters there was not a lot of choice of electives offered online but fortunately there was only 1 semester that I was forced to take a class I really had no desire to take (and fortunately it turned out to be a somewhat interesting class in the end). The other negative is that there are only 3 semesters per year so the minimum completion time for the 12 classes is 2 years (and even then, summer classes are condensed/double speed so taking 2 summer classes + holding down a full-time job would be challenging). The other downside is that I don't know what I'm going to do with all my new free time :tragedy: (ok I'm sure I can think of people who have bigger problems!!) I do think I have a bit of the post-grad blues though. Anyone been through that?
Congratulations! The surefire cure for the post-graduation blues is, of course, another degree program! So, will it be a D.P.A. or Ph.D.? :biggrin:
Great job! Take a moment and enjoy your accomplishment. I hope to join you in the MPA club this time next year.
I went for the MBA to help me learn how to start and run my own small law practice (I had no prior business background and God forbid they bother to teach you anything about that in law school). I'm doing the MPA to help me advance in my regular job in government. The two degrees are similar but different enough that there's not a whole lot of overlap between the two programs. I don't know exactly how much the two degrees had to do with it, but since I began the MBA/MPA I've gotten multiple promotions with salary increases that more than cover the costs of these degrees.
Perhaps they should replace the apparently mandatory law school course "Running for Elected Office" with a business course? :biggrin: That works!
Whoa whoa whoa!!! Hold your horses :cop:. It's not mandatory it's just one of those "Sir, this course is strongly recommended". :smashfreakB::chairshot::chairfall::dunno:
I'm convinced it's part of the core curriculum at Suffolk University Law School and New England School of Law, as the Massachusetts Legislature roster looks like a combined alumni directory for the 2 schools.
