A picture of the human resource specialty offered by MPA pro

The results are presented of a survey focused on the human resource-personnel specialty within Masters in Public Administration (MPA) programs nationwide. According to the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration's (NASPAA) 1992 Directory of Programs, 85 of their 217 member schools offer this specialty, following only public finance-budgeting (94) and health services administration (91) as the most frequently offered specialty. A study was conducted to fill the gap that exists in information on how students are being educated in human resource administration by MPA programs. Besides basic overview information on the total MPA program, each NASPAA representative was queried about whether they in fact offer a specialty in human resources, the precise title of the specialty, enrollment figures, credit hour and internship requirements, required and elective courses, and any new directions planned for the specialty.