Lit Globe

Value of Membership

NASPAA is a vital global community of over 300 schools of public policy, public affairs, and public administration located in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Membership benefits schools in numerous ways to help them improve the quality of their program—and of the field overall.

A NASPAA Membership provides what you need to LEAD your program-- don’t just run it! 

Join NASPAA 

NASPAA Member Benefits

There are a lot of great reasons to join NASPAA. Check out some of the benefits of NASPAA Membership below!

  • Accreditation

    NASPAA Accreditation

    60% of NASPAA Members are Accredited

    NASPAA’s accreditation process, driven by public service values, is mission- and outcomes-based, and grounded in an in-depth self-evaluation of programs using the NASPAA Accreditation Standards – the quality benchmark of graduate public service programs around the world. Our Standards are designed to be flexible to each context, mission, and institution, providing room for your program to showcase its achievements and ongoing growth.  

  • Motivation

    Student Simulation Competition

    The NASPAA Student Simulation Competition is a day-long event that allows graduate students in public policy and related fields to test their skills on real-world data.  NASPAA member schools can nominate their top students to participate in the competition and represent their program in an experiential learning opportunity.  Students have the opportunity to put their skills to practice while networking with peers throughout their region. 

  • Candid from Conference 2018

    Annual Conference and Meetings

    Network with your Peers!

    NASPAA hosts an Annual Fall Conference, that while open to anyone interested, is discounted for our members.  We also host annual meetings for our member school's Career Professionals and Admission's Directors.   Our Annual Conference boasts over 500 attendees from around the globe.  An excellent opportunity to network and engage with your peers!

  • Students at Sim

    School Search

    Help students find your programs!

    NASPAA member schools who complete their Annual Data Report are included in NASPAA's School Search, an important tool for students looking for graduate public affairs degrees.  The School Search leads to a public School Profile that highlights the unique characteristics of our members.  Including information regarding specializations offered, enrollment size and online availability to name a few.

  • Data Center

    Teaching and Learning

    Engage with other NASPAA Members on Best Practices

    NASPAA schools while all engaged in the education of public affairs students do so in many different ways and in very different environments.  NASPAA provides an opportunity for our members to share their best practices and innovations in pedagogy with the field. 

  • data center

    Data about the Field

    The Authoritative Source of Data in the Field of Public Affairs Education

    NASPAA collects data from our Member schools annually.  This data is available not only in the school search but members can also request benchmarking data as well as raw data sets for research and other analysis. 

The Ten Best Reasons to Join NASPAA:

  1. Your students can participate in– and win!— our Global Student Simulation Competition, at many sites around the world.
  2. Get international advice on building a globally engaged, globally visible program at our annual conference, and through our electronic networks. Connect with the top public service institutions and faculty around the world.
  3. Improve your program-- through learning about best practices from the JPAE journal, Admissions Meeting, and Career Professionals Conference to participation in strategic program management seminars and accreditation workshops.
  4. Recruit your next faculty member or program leader through networking at NASPAA events and our electronic job board. Or, even discover your next position!
  5. Support better teaching and learning in your classrooms: tap into online simulation and case resources.
  6. Attract more students, possessing better understanding of your unique program, through the world’s best comprehensive student search site for our field.
  7. Raise up your students through our student honor society, the simulation competition, and PhD Pathway resources.
  8. Promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16!— join us to build transparency, accountability, and participation into your curriculum.  
  9. Develop more innovative and relevant curriculum -- Data science, NGOs, Social entrepreneurship, Globalization. Be at the cutting edge.
  10. Stand up for public service… and public service education!

NASPAA Year-in-Review 2019-20

NASPAA Year-in-Review 2018-19