The Bachelor of Public Administration (BPA or B.P.A.) degree is one of several Bachelor's

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 level management

Management

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...

 degrees that provides training in the public policy

Public policy

Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...

 field as well as public management

Public management

Public management is a term that considers that government and non-profit administration resembles private-sector management in some important ways. As such, there are management tools appropriate in public and in private domains, tools that maximize efficiency and effectiveness...

. A bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in public administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 provides a background for those interested in pursuing careers in governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, management in hospitals,consulting in private firms, school boards, and human resources

Human resources

Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...

. Careers in international relief agencies, urban planning, city management, financial planning, public finance

Public finance

Public finance is the revenue and expenditure of public authoritiesThe purview of public finance is considered to be threefold: governmental effects on efficient allocation of resources, distribution of income, and macroeconomic stabilization.-Overview:The proper role of government provides a...

 and public relations

Public relations

Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

 also tie into the BPA degree.

BPA programs focus on public administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 at the local, state/provincial, national/federal and supranational levels, as well as in the nonprofit sector. Through its history, the BPA degree has become more interdisciplinary by drawing from fields such as economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, and regional planning in order to equip BPA graduates with skills and knowledge covering a broad range of topics and disciplines relevant to the public sector. A core curriculum of a typical BPA program usually includes courses on microeconomics

Microeconomics

Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of how the individual modern household and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources. Typically, it applies to markets where goods or services are being bought and sold...

, macroeconomics

Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics is a branch of economics dealing with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of the whole economy. This includes a national, regional, or global economy...

, public finance

Public finance

Public finance is the revenue and expenditure of public authoritiesThe purview of public finance is considered to be threefold: governmental effects on efficient allocation of resources, distribution of income, and macroeconomic stabilization.-Overview:The proper role of government provides a...

, research methods / statistics, policy process and policy analysis, ethics, public management, leadership, planning & GIS, and program evaluation/performance measurement.

The BPA degree is very similar of the Bachelor of Public Policy degree and also the Bachelor of Business Administration degree but to a lesser extent.

See also

• Master of Public Affairs
  Master of Public Affairs
  The Master of Public Affairs , one of several public affairs degrees, historically has been a master level professional degree offered in public policy schools that provides training in public policy and the operation of government. Courses required for this degree educate students in public and...
  
  
• Master of Public Policy
  Master of Public Policy
  The Master of Public Policy , one of several public policy degrees, is a master's level professional degree that provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to public policy and the...
  
  
• Master of Public Administration
  Master of Public Administration
  The Master of Public Administration is a professional post-graduate degree in Public Administration. The MPA program prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in nongovernmental organization and...
  
  
• Master of Nonprofit Organizations
  Master of Nonprofit Organizations
  The Master of Nonprofit Organizations , Master of Nonprofit Management , Master of Not-for-Profit Leadership , Master of Nonprofit Studies , Master of Public Affairs , Master of Philanthropic Studies and similarly named degrees offer graduate-level training in management and leadership in the...
  
  
• Public policy schools
• Master of Business Administration
  Master of Business Administration
  The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
  
  
• Bachelor of Business Administration
  Bachelor of Business Administration
  The Bachelor of Business Administration is a bachelor's degree in Commerce and business administration. In most universities, the degree is conferred upon a student after four years of full-time study in one or more areas of business concentrations; see below...
  
  
• Doctor of Public Administration
  Doctor of Public Administration
  The Doctor of Public Administration is a terminal applied-research doctoral degree in the field of public administration , which is a sub-discipline of political science. The D.P.A. requires significant coursework beyond the masters level and a dissertation that contributes to theory or practice...