The Master of Public Administration degree program has earned accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), a recognition that the program successfully meets the high level of quality required for the additional prestigious accreditation. Of the institutions having undergraduate and/or graduate degrees in public affairs and administrations, only 59 percent have earned the accreditation (154 institutions).

“I am extremely proud that Augusta State University’s MPA program has received this distinguished notice of accreditation. NASPAA is the most prominent accreditation that an MPA program can receive, and this award is the direct result of the hard work of all those associated with the program,” says Dr. Samuel Sullivan, vice president for academic affairs at ASU.

“Only one out of three master’s programs in public administration has been accredited through NASPAA,” says Dr. Saundra Reinke, director of the MPA program. “This accreditation shows that our program is on par with those programs at larger, distinguished institutions,” she says.

The accreditation process is rigorous and requires the institution to undergo a year of self-study in which every facet of the program is examined—from the administrative organization to its scope of influence, says Dr. Reinke. It also involves a voluntary peer review by the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA). The self-study review is submitted and reviewed by COPRA, and then followed with a three day site visit in which students, faculty, and community members are interviewed.

A commendation provided by the site visiting team states, “The capstone course and process are quite rigorous and appear to be well above average among MPA programs.”

The Master of Public Administration degree program was instituted at Augusta State in 1996. “Attaining this additional voluntary accreditation has long been a goal,” says Dr. Reinke.

“I offer my congratulations to Dr. Saundra Reinke, director of the MPA program; Dr. Sudha Ratan, chair of the political science department; Dr. Robert Parham, dean of the Katherine Reese Pamplin College of Arts and Sciences; and to all of the faculty, staff, and students whose dedication to the MPA program has culminated in this outstanding achievement,” says Dr. Sullivan.

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