The Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) program at Cornell is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral degree designed for working professionals who want to enhance existing skills and advance their careers in the broad field of public affairs.
Through an 18-month blended course of study taught by Cornell faculty, you will receive advanced training in strategic planning and management, economic and financial analysis, program evaluation, and project management.
The complex challenges facing the world are not solved solely by governments, nor by corporations or nonprofit organizations working alone, but with leadership and innovation from all three sectors. An Executive Master of Public Administration degree from Cornell University shows the world that you belong right in the middle of that solution set.
Program Overview
- Public Administration: A Strategic Planning Perspective
- Leadership for Public Service
- Law and Public Agency Decisions
- Microeconomics for Management and Policy I
- Market Regulation
- Managerial Statistics
- Strategic Nonprofit Management I
- Strategic Stakeholder Engagement
- Effective Policy Writing
- Accounting for Government and Nonprofit Organizations
- Project Management for Policy
- Fundraising
- Systems Thinking for Policy I
- Systems Thinking for Policy II
- Public Interest Technology
- International Public Management I
- Corporate Responsibility
- Intergovernmental Relations
Students will make three 1-week visits to Cornell’s campus, where they will meet their classmates and professors in person. These residencies include intensive courses in:
- Year 1 Summer Residency Week
- Microeconomics for Management and Policy II
- Strategic Nonprofit Management II
- International Public Management II
- Year 2 Summer Residency Week
- Vulnerability Planning
- Politics of the Policymaking Process
- Public-Private Partnerships
- Year 2 December Residency Week
- Project Management for Policy
- Capstone Project Presentations
Tailor your program by choosing from two concentrations:
- Public and Nonprofit Management, with elective courses in managing technology, managing personnel, decision analytics, and leadership and strategy
- International Policy, with elective courses in frontiers of international policy, human rights, international management, and leadership and strategy
- Maria Fitzpatrick, Professor of Policy Analysis and Management; Director, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- Thomas O’Toole, Executive Director Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- R. Richard Geddes, Professor of Policy Analysis and Management; Director, Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy
- Joe Grasso, Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs; Associate Dean for Finance, Administration, and Corporate Relations, School of Industrial and Labor Relations
- Ning Su, Visiting Associate Professor
- Laurie Miller, Associate Director for Engaged Learning, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- John Mathiason, Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- Derek and Laura Cabrera, Lecturers, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- Daniel Manne, Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- Rebecca Brenner, Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- Daniel Lamb, Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- Rebecca Darling, Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
- John Tobin, Professor of Practice, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs and Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
- Seth Harris, Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs