The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration has granted the Master of Public Administration program at Georgia Southern full accreditation for seven years.

The University’s M.P.A. program joins more than 190 degrees accredited by NASPAA worldwide, and was recognized by the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation for substantial conformity with NASPAA standards. The program is housed in the Institute for Public and Nonprofit Studies and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

Trent Davis, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Public and Nonprofit Studies, led the program through the rigorous peer-review process and has served as the director of the institute since 2012.

“It is a mark of quality in terms of the cutting edge training in public and nonprofit management that students can expect to receive,” said Davis. “Successfully accrediting the M.P.A. program required commitment from the program faculty, our students, University administration, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean Curtis Ricker, D.A., and the M.P.A. Program advisory board.”

Georgia Southern was one of eight other M.P.A. programs that received accreditation on July 18.

“It [NASPAA accreditation] is also a signal that the program’s faculty are leaders in the field and are actively engaged in public service-based education and research,” Davis said. “The M.P.A. program’s NASPAA accreditation coupled with the department’s status as a member of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council, demonstrates our strong commitment to training the current and next generation of public and nonprofit sector leaders.”