Rant: Harvard Kennedy School's MPA is Broken

So what would you do about it?

FWIW there were a fair number of joint mba/mpa students at my school. Down the road after graduation many of these students do end up in the public sector, after a few years of consulting 

Don't a significant amount of politicians have MBB experience? I feel like politics may be the end-goal for those graduates but they recognize MBB is a great platform to begin at.

Would have to imagine this is driven in part by the exorbitant cost of attending HKS? According to the website, the all-in one year cost of the program is ~$90k. So you are out of pocket ~$180k over two years. With government salaries averaging $50-$70k, it doesn't really make much financial sense to immediately go right into government work. Additionally, given the limited opportunities for fast promotions in government jobs, it may make sense to work in the private sector and then go into the government a bit later in your career? 

I think it would be interesting to see how many of these graduates ultimately end up in government service say 10-20 years down the line. 

Unfortunately a lifelong and very successful/impactful career in politics/government service has been, and always will be a privilege primarily reserved for those that come from means. For example, Robert Moses, one of the most prolific city planners and politicians in NYC history, had all his bills paid by his wealthy mother for years and years. 

Not to say there are exceptions to this, but often those that are willing to dedicate their lives to public service w/o much regard for their financial situation are also unlikely to be the type of person to be attracted to a degree program at Harvard. 

That's exactly it. IMO, as someone who once received admissions to many of these programs only to turn them down when I realized their ROIs didn't really make sense, there is little this program actually teaches in the way of government service. I suppose you could very well say that about MBAs, but at least there is a very set pipeline coming out of those programs where MPAs have nowhere close to the same unless you jointly combine it with a JD or MBA.

I also tend to notice those with top government jobs go to people with top law school backgrounds such as Yale Law School (as a lot of policy work involves understanding the laws) so very much agree that these are much more luxury degrees and would highly recommend against people going into any debt for them. 

The MPA is <15% total enrollment for HKS and in the remaining 85% program share the private sector share ranges from 18-39%. Can't be bothered to calculate a weighted version but i'm guessing for the school overall you end up with low 30's private sector high 60s government/international organization/NGOs... which doesn't seem broken to me? Instead seems like program designations have shifted.

There are a lot of other valid points in this thread on 1.) Harvard brand, 2.) service bein an easier choice if wealthy, and 3.) policy schools mostly being a waste of money. While you are technically correct on the MPA 75% share I don't think it is as reflective of an overall trend given the numbers I noted above. 

As an aside in a program like MPA-ID you get a much different quantitative preparation than an MBA (and more rigorous I might add) so I have seen these students end up with buy side jobs that they likely could not get out of an MBA program. Again this isnt an option open to many bc depends on your pre grad school education/experience but for these folks it is a great option in lieu of a PHD.

Just being honest . . my understanding of the Kennedy school was that it's a glorified finishing school.  Basically people who want prestige attached the their name, but don't really want to work hard or compete, and maybe have no need for money, get this fancy-sounding degree because what really matters to them is sounding impressive at a cocktail party.

I realize, of course, that this is not what the Kennedy school claims its purpose to be.  But all snobby bullshit needs a purported functional use . . dive watches actually do work under water, boat shoes are probably convenient on boats, ticket pockets on custom suits are in fact sized appropriately for 19th century train tickets. 

But the functionality exists to distract from the reality that these things are purchased for snob appeal.  And I don't think a Kennedy school degree is too different.  

So if the primary reason for existence is a branding exercise, I don't think we should expect people to only use it for government jobs.

I guess that's what happens when education is for-profit, especially Mater's. If the MPA admission committee accepted only those who had gov't and public services experience they wouldn't even fill half of the class, leaving a lot of money on the table.

Also, where did you get your stats from? I've seen plenty of foreigners do the MPA and then go to their countries to continue in politics. It seems that using the MPA for consulting or IB is mainly done by US locals.

You do know that a huge percentage of government advisory is done by consulting firms and banks right?  Or is the OP just this dense?

side topic, but I know someone who fraudulently represented his firm, raise 100M+ in financing, bankrupt the company, and then end up going to HKS MPA after. So much for their admissions process. You'd assume someone like that wouldn't show his face ever again.

HKS is only a ~half-rung above HES on the respectability ladder of Harvard schools. Ostensibly some degree of social purpose, but ultimately a cash grab by the university, leveraging the brand equity of the far-more-worthwhile programs. 

Has it occurred to you that maybe it's politics and government that are broken, and what you're seeing at HKS and other top MPAs is just a symptom-and-response?