Public Policy & Administration

Gain an international perspective, meet the challenges of governance and service delivery, effect policy-making, and make an impact on social issues. Choose from 12 specializations.

Our DPA program is designed to prepare you to become a leader. Gain the in-depth knowledge to develop effective management skills and solve practical problems in government and governance.

Walden University’s MS in Nonprofit Management and Leadership degree program can prepare you to lead in a nonprofit organization.

Focused on social change, research, and practical coursework, our MPA program can prepare you to translate policies into programs as well as analyze and address complex issues.

Enhance your skills to lead, develop, and implement emergency-response strategies. Learn to implement policies that protect individual safety without compromising rights and freedoms.

Learn essential foundational concepts and principles related to government policy, budget and finance, and organizational management and leadership.

We offer hundreds of for-credit individual courses in education, counseling, business, IT, psychology, and health, among other areas which may be applied to Walden degree programs.

Shaping public policy involves strategic planning and complex negotiations. This specialization focuses on the policy process, from setting agendas and using analytic tools to implementing legislation and gauging social acceptance.

Within the Local Government Management for Sustainable Communities specialization, you will discuss what sustainability and livability mean and explore a wide range of tools, strategies, and skills you can use to create sustainable communities that are more environmentally sound, economically prosperous, and socially equitable.

In an era of increasing globalization, leaders of nonprofit organizations and governmental departments at the local, state, and national levels need to know how to operate on an international scale.

With the Self-Designed specialization, you can create your own learning experience and focus on nonprofit management and leadership theories, principles, and practices in an area that matches your specific goals and interests.

Designed for entrepreneurial professionals and students across all disciplines, coursework in this Walden MS in Nonprofit Management and Leadership specialization covers a range of organizational activities and structures and nonprofit sector responses.

Gain the management and organizational skills you need to lead diverse and complex nonprofit organizations or to serve as a social change agent in local and global communities.

Explore strategies for helping Global South countries or developing regions build modern, sustainable communities with the Global Leadership specialization.

Behind every successful government is an organized team of dedicated and knowledgeable professionals. Learn how to develop and manage effective government programs at the local, state, and federal levels. The Public Management and Leadership specialization will enable you to make a positive difference in communities through public governance that includes transparency, accountability, and efficiency.

Behind every successful government is an organized team of dedicated and knowledgeable professionals. Learn how to develop and manage effective government programs at the local, state, and federal levels. The Public Management and Leadership specialization will enable you to make a positive difference in communities through public governance that includes transparency, accountability, and efficiency.

Designed for public safety administrators and emergency responders who want to move forward in their careers, this specialization examines vital emergency management issues and contingency planning.

The Law and Public Policy specialization explores the relationship between statutes and case law and the impact that legislation and court systems can have on public policy. Explore fundamental legal concepts and current topics in law as well as U.S. Supreme Court cases that have had a major precedential effect on individual rights.

A broad understanding of the field of public administration can help prepare you for a range of career options at federal, state, and local agencies as well as in the private and nonprofit sectors. In the General Program, you will have the opportunity to gain cross-sectoral management and communication skills that can be applied domestically and globally.

Nonprofit organizations face unique challenges that include funding initiatives, recruiting and retaining volunteers, analyzing public policy, and advocating for reforms in legislation. In the Nonprofit Management and Leadership specialization, you’ll explore best practices for navigating through budgeting and finance issues, cultivating stakeholder relationships, and developing strategic plans that foster collaboration across sectors.