MPA-MBA

The lines between nonprofit and for-profit, public and private are increasingly blurred. Commercial enterprises are taking on the challenges of corporate social responsibility. Nonprofits are looking for increasingly innovative approaches to raising money. Suddenly everyone is looking to sustain a social mission AND a bottom line.

That’s why NYU Wagner and NYU Stern School of Business offer an integrated dual-degree program in business and public administration for leaders who want to solve today’s most vexing challenges at the local, national, and global levels. With an MPA-MBA degree, you’ll be able to make an immediate and positive impact on business and public service—and you’ll have the skills to work across all sectors. 

Alumni of the program strive to make an immediate and positive impact on business and society and have done so with successful careers in many fields, including:

  • Social Entrepreneurship

  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Social Impact Investing
  • Public-Private Partnerships and Hybrid Organizations
  • Lobbying and Government Affairs
  • Complex, highly regulated industries (e.g., Healthcare, Energy)

program highlights

By earning two degrees in only three years, you will:

  1. Double your student experience: Engage in student groups, student services, and co-curricular events at both NYU Stern and NYU Wagner.
  2. Double your career exploration: Explore more career options through internships over two summers and career services at both schools.
  3. Double your career opportunities: Position yourself to secure jobs that require either degree and to transition smoothly into roles that benefit from both.
  4. Double your influence: Gain two complementary skill sets that together enable you to occupy influential strategic positions by providing a bridge across sectors.
  5. Double your network: Benefit from a vast professional network of students, alumni, and faculty from both Stern and Wagner.

Program specializations

NYU Wagner provides foundational public policy training and the ability to specialize in Advocacy and Political Action, Financial Management & Public Finance, International Development Policy & Finance, Management & Leadership, Public Policy Analysis, or Social Impact, Innovation & Investment through the MPA in Public & Nonprofit Management & Policy (MPA-PNP) program; or in Health Finance (Health Services Financial Management or Healthcare Public Finance), Health Policy Analysis (Advocacy or Analytics track), Health Services Management, or International Policy & Management through the MPA in Health Policy & Management (MPA-Health) program. NYU Stern offers comprehensive training in the fundamentals of business and general management and the opportunity to choose from over 20 specialization areas.

Advisement

An important aspect of the dual-degree academic experience is the extensive, tailored, and coordinated advisement support. Students  work with advisors from both schools to carefully choose coursework that takes into consideration their unique academic and professional goals. The many sources of advisement that each school has to offer includes faculty advisors, offices of career services, program administrators, and peer advisors. 

Students leave the dual-degree program well-supported and equipped with the frameworks and analytical skills that will serve them well in the complex and changing intersection of sectors and roles their careers may span.

 

MBA-MPA students can "double count" some coursework between degrees. Your MBA coursework will reduce the total number of credits you need for the MPA to 33 (from the standard 45), and your MPA coursework will reduce the total number of credits needed for your MBA to 51 (from the standard 60). To finish the program, you will earn a total of 84 credits (33 MPA + 51 MBA) across three years of full-time study.

Your 33 MPA credits will come from:

  • 3 Core credits
  • 9 to 15 Specialization credits
    • Each specialization in the MPA-PNP program requires 9 credits.
    • Specializations in the MPA-Health program vary in the number of credits they require, ranging between 13.5 and 18 credits.
    • You'll find the required courses for your intended specialization on the relevant program requirement checksheet on Wagner's website. 
  • 9 to 18 General Elective credits, depending on Specialization
    • Wagner courses carry 1.5 or 3 credits based on the course's duration. 
    • Electives can come from coursework related to your specialization (MPA-PNP students can find different curricular "focus areas" at the bottom of their program requirement checksheet), but they can also come from other areas of the Wagner curriculum, or even from approved coursework outside of Wagner.
  • 3 Capstone credits

Note: In addition to the credit requirements above, all MPA students must satisfy Wagner's Professional Experience Requirement (PER), unless it is waived for you upon admission based on prior professional experience.

The 84-credit MBA-MPA program requires three years of full-time study. In the standard trajectory below, you'll see that only fall and spring terms are represented. If you would like to lighten your course schedule in a fall/spring term by reallocating some credits to a January or summer term, you can explore that option with a program advisor,

  • Year 1 (30 credits), Registration residency: Stern
    • Fall: 15 credits (12 MBA + 3 MPA)
    • Spring: 15 credits (12 MBA + 3 MPA)
  • Year 2 (27 credits), Registration residency: Wagner
    • Fall: 13. 5 (7.5 MBA + 6 MPA)
    • Spring: 13.5 (4.5 MBA + 9 MPA)
  • Year 3 (27 credits), Registration residency: Wagner (fall) & Stern (spring)
    • Fall: 13.5 (7.5 MBA + 6 MPA)
    • Spring: 13.5 (7.5 MBA + 6 MPA) 

Admissions

 

Students apply separately to each school and join the MPA-MBA dual-degree program once they are admitted to both schools. Students enrolled in dual master's degree programs with other NYU schools are not eligible for NYU Wagner Named Fellowships and merit-based scholarships.