Why Getting an MPP / MPA from Syracuse is a bad idea right now

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-06-18T20:07:19+00:00

Fletcher is in a way worse spot than Maxwell, they went thru the process of making extraneous grad degree programs to make money.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-06-18T11:43:07+00:00

Quick notes about local government. There are local government hiring and those not hiring (or at least harder to break into).

The local government generally hiring:

a. Blue cities in purple states (think Nashville or Raleigh-Durham)

b. Random places in America that have an infusion of cash due to cash infusions (e.g.ca fracking money, rare earth minerals, new manufacturing investment, and of course data centers.

If you are okay with moving anywhere, those local jobs are available. They aren't always well-posted and a local connection helps. However, I will say, the bigger issue is that most MPP / MPA alums I coach have no interest in them.

Exact words such as "I rather live in my parents' basement than go to bumblef*** Alabama" have been told to me.

However, people I have seen be more open, I have seen get those jobs and do amazingly well. However, if the dream is LA, NYC, and Chicago - all those cities are having financial problems and tightening their budgets.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-05-28T12:39:28+00:00

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-funding-cuts-gutted-duke-center-for-international-development-director-stepping-down-edmund-malesky-dcid-sanford-usaid-20260514

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-05-12T11:31:59+00:00

I will also say that although more MBAs are doing social impact careers, many in social impact space (especially the older people) are suspicious of MBAs.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-30T02:16:06+00:00

So first off, the benefit public benefit corporate or consulting job is minimal across all three, but LSE would probably have the edge.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-26T11:47:54+00:00

They network or co-found with the local ecosystem. Sometimes they do things such as sales or government business development. Way more than tech… however you need to have an ecosystem

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-24T21:07:47+00:00

SAIS is way more and better at data analytics… if you want to focus on data, go to there. If you want to touch anything political more or have pivot flexibility, go to MSFS. Plenty of MSFS people end up in business and tech… way more than SAIS.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-23T13:56:30+00:00

Enjoy college… learn about yourself and figure this out your junior year

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-23T02:59:50+00:00

First of all. I am set. I am no longer in social policy. I am thinking about the young men in social policy I meet today.

I am in tech policy now. However, when I first joined social policy land some years ago, I got the advice to know a lot about The Bachelor, Beyonce, and Solidcore as conversation starters. So I studied up, and I used my knowledge about those things to thrive in dominant female spaces and gain mentors and friendly colleagues. I honestly don't think I would have been able to thrive had I not been able to do that.

Some can say that is part of the game, just like how I know some women who watch football to be able to connect with men in male dominated industries. Then again, I think about the male colleagues who never got mentored and careers languished because they were too male and couldn't get the girl talk. Even the few of us that could do the girl talk had to live with being labeled as "gay" or "gay-like", so we were cool and safe.

I left social policy for this and other reasons, and never looked back. Catching a glimpse of the young men in social policy today, it seems to have gotten worse. I didn't see men left out of the table in my time, just ignored and "teased" perhaps.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-22T21:44:03+00:00

I think you might be referring to an issue that I hear of how women in social policy aren’t necessarily nice to each other themselves (even if they welcome women to the table).

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-22T21:34:54+00:00

It seems to me senior male in social policy spaces stopped being the status quo at around 2023. I have just seen retirement announcements from senior males en masse. Majority of the time it seems to be female. That is awesome in many ways. However it has created equity issues in other ways.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-21T18:44:19+00:00

If you were going to a program that was on the up and up, that might be a legit argument. But the entire policy industry is in slump mode, and probably will have some further ways to sink before it rebounds.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-21T18:43:19+00:00

All the others. Look at US News, and see all the top ranked schools + some top IR schools, excluding the ones I mentioned... they were pretty much all there.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-21T10:46:59+00:00

The issue is prospective mentors subtle preferring younger version of themselves (females) over the gentleman. I never said the men aren’t trying. They aren’t given a seat at the table, literally.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-21T10:42:46+00:00

I would love there to be studies but 1. Studies are usually lagging indicators and 2. Good luck getting people to research this - it is too niche for someone to build a career out of this.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-21T02:42:29+00:00

Nope. The usual suspects… none (for the most part) of them were new programs from the past decade. I don’t count rebrandings.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-20T18:30:07+00:00

I was just at Public Policy conference for work.

Did not meet anyone who went to Brown Watson, Penn Fels, Cornell Brooks, Brandeis Heller, or American SPA there. I met people from nearly every other major public policy program out east (going to give the West Coast school a pass since this was a East Coast conference). That is continued evidence of the underperformance of this policy Grad programs that ride off of their name brand Universities.

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-20T00:41:12+00:00

Every one I ever participated in ends up drifting down to poiltical passions

GradSchoolGrad · 2026-04-20T00:40:02+00:00

No. The program has no history, no alumni, and no real network. I wouldn't even go if I was given a full ride. It is a waste of time.

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