Public Management

Gain public sector leadership skills at a top-ranked graduate school of social policy and management

The public management concentration is designed for students who wish to effect positive, sustainable change through a career in local, state, and federal government. To complement their core MBA training, public management concentrators take additional courses that provide both a theoretical and applied foundation in areas unique to the public sector: the procurement of resources, policy and program implementation, outcome measurement, and government budgeting, amongst numerous others.

Students in this concentration engage in rigorous coursework and pursue career-building opportunities through internships, fellowships, and team consulting projects, putting them in an immediate position to take their careers to the next level. Graduates of the public management concentration are prepared to lead across a range of public sector organizations, from town and city councils, to state and federal agencies, to legislative offices.

Concentration Chair: Brenda Anderson

Brenda Anderson

“There has long been a pressing need for more public sector leaders with specialized skills involving policy and program implementation, governance, public sector finance and economics, policy analysis and evaluation. Though the Social Impact MBA will train leaders of tomorrow to move seamlessly across nonprofit, public and private sectors, students choosing the Public Management Concentration will focus on developing the skills unique to public servants working at the local, state and federal levels in a broad range of capacities.”

Course requirements

The full spectrum of MBA core courses (52 credits)
The following specialized courses (8 credits):
- HS 341a, Public Finance and Budgeting (4 credits)
- HS 403f, Policy to Action: Understanding Implementation (4 credits)
Select an additional course(s) from the following list in consultation with a faculty advisor (4 credits):
- HS 303a, Historical and Contemporary Developments in Social Welfare (4 credits)
- HS 342b, Policy, Advocacy, Protest and Community Organizations (4 credits)
- HS 354a, Capitalism and the Welfare State (4 credits)
- HS 422f, Cost-Effectiveness (2 credits)
- HS 426f, Advanced Techniques of Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Benefit Analysis (2 credits)
- ECON 134b, Public Sector Economics (4 credits)
Consortium Courses at the Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT
The successful completion of a Team Consulting Project (TCP) in which students consult on a significant management problem at a mission-driven organization or government agency.

Alumni Spotlight

Mary Casady, MBA’15

Project Manager, Executive Office for Administration and Finance at the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

“I help bring efficiency improvements and cost savings measures to administrative policies for the 42,000 employees of the Commonwealth. In my role, I also serve on the board of MassVentures, which is a quasi-public private Venture Capitalist organization focused on the Massachusetts economy. My Heller education prepared me very well for the diverse responsibilities of this role.”