Designed for pre-career and in-career students, the master's degree program in public administration at Rutgers SPAA provides professional competencies in public administration and management and gives students a broad understanding of the field and its relevant issues. Students become competent at defining pu??blic problems, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, developing and communicating creative solutions, and implementing ethical and practical courses of action.Public administration is an academic field that addresses the implementation of public policies at all levels of government (federal, state, local, special districts) and in sectors related by virtue of their quasi-governmental structure, degree of regulation, or financial and contractual relationships to governments, such as, the nonprofit sector. The MPA degree combines contexts of public policy making with understanding of urban environments and knowledge and skills needed for operational management of government and nonprofit organizations and networks. The MPA degree at Rutgers SPAA consists of 42 credits of coursework addressing the contexts and applications of public policy implementation, that is, design, delivery, leadership, management, performance, and results of public and nonprofit sector activity. These sectors provide over 16 million job opportunities in the U.S. alone.