JD/MPA? Forum

[GannonBecker]

Im considering doing a dual degree in law school with a JD/MPA. Does anyone have any information or advice for me on this? Does the MPA have any real value to employers? I will be going to a relatively inexpensive law school while also being a resident. Also, I am interested in public policymaking at some point in the future, so the MPA at least relates to that. Advice? Comments?

[twenty]

Im considering doing a dual degree in law school with a JD/MPA. Does anyone have any information or advice for me on this? Does the MPA have any real value to employers? I will be going to a relatively inexpensive law school while also being a resident. Also, I am interested in public policymaking at some point in the future, so the MPA at least relates to that. Advice? Comments?

Just about to graduate from a solidly-regional MPA program. Just like with law, there are a handful of "Top MPAs" that make sense generically, and a whole lot of regional MPAs that make sense specifically. At HKS or WWS, you're likely to see employers showing up to snap up graduates for the credential.

When you say "relatively inexpensive" I hope you mean free + living with parents/SO, because the MPA add-on completely deflates the whole "go to school for cheap" route into PI/govt. There is no way in hell I would subject myself to four years of school + cost of living otherwise and expect to be able to pay it back on a public servant salary. Furthermore, the MPA is completely worthless if you don't have at least 2-3 years of public sector experience to justify it. The MPA isn't a ticket to ride the government gravy train, it's a credential for a post-entry level employee who's seeking to rise to management -> executive positions.

Looking back, had I known I was going for law school, I wouldn't have done the MPA. The JD accomplishes everything I needed to accomplish with the MPA, and all it was at that point was just additional school. Basically, if you want to go into straight public policy, do Berkeley, HKS, or WWS. Don't waste your time on a regional law degree or a regional MPA. If you want to be an attorney (even a PI/govt attorney) don't waste a year of your life and a whole lot of money on a degree that isn't going to help you a lot.

[GannonBecker]

Im considering doing a dual degree in law school with a JD/MPA. Does anyone have any information or advice for me on this? Does the MPA have any real value to employers? I will be going to a relatively inexpensive law school while also being a resident. Also, I am interested in public policymaking at some point in the future, so the MPA at least relates to that. Advice? Comments?

Just about to graduate from a solidly-regional MPA program. Just like with law, there are a handful of "Top MPAs" that make sense generically, and a whole lot of regional MPAs that make sense specifically. At HKS or WWS, you're likely to see employers showing up to snap up graduates for the credential.

When you say "relatively inexpensive" I hope you mean free + living with parents/SO, because the MPA add-on completely deflates the whole "go to school for cheap" route into PI/govt. There is no way in hell I would subject myself to four years of school + cost of living otherwise and expect to be able to pay it back on a public servant salary. Furthermore, the MPA is completely worthless if you don't have at least 2-3 years of public sector experience to justify it. The MPA isn't a ticket to ride the government gravy train, it's a credential for a post-entry level employee who's seeking to rise to management -> executive positions.

Looking back, had I known I was going for law school, I wouldn't have done the MPA. The JD accomplishes everything I needed to accomplish with the MPA, and all it was at that point was just additional school. Basically, if you want to go into straight public policy, do Berkeley, HKS, or WWS. Don't waste your time on a regional law degree or a regional MPA. If you want to be an attorney (even a PI/govt attorney) don't waste a year of your life and a whole lot of money on a degree that isn't going to help you a lot.

Thank you for your response. Much appreciated. What you summarized was my general feeling on it, I just wanted to solidify it. Doing more research, it looks like most everyone is in agreement with your sentiments. I'll probably be skipping the MPA.

Spyfox rocks by the way.

[tomwatts]

I'm at HLS/HKS doing a JD/MPP, and I like it a lot. The experience of a policy school is different from the experience of a law school, and it helps balance out law school. A lot of people on TLS hate law school, and I think part of the reason I've liked it so much more than most is that I've had the policy classes to break up the law classes. Policy classes are really fun (in a different way from law classes); there are the more quant-y econ and stats classes and the more skills-y communication, writing, and negotiating classes, and all sorts of other things.

Professionally, an MPA (like an MPP) is different from a JD in that there's probably no job that requires it, but there are things that it's broadly useful for. More or less anything in the government (legislative work, legal work for an agency, etc.) or that interacts with the government (any kind of regulatory practice at a firm, legislative/policy work at a firm or a business, etc.) will view a policy degree favorably, but how favorably varies a fair bit with the degree and the job. Obviously, HLS/HKS opens up doors that other schools may not (and potentially vice-versa).

Financially, both HLS and HKS have pretty good LRAPs, so I haven't had to think about whether I'm going to have to be able to pay back loans on a government salary. If you are considering a situation where that won't be true, I'd be very careful what you sign up for.

If you decide you don't want to do the MPA now, then you can always do it later, too, if it should prove relevant later in life.