While enrolled in the M.P.A. Program at NGCSU, I maintained a full-time, professional-level position with a sister college.  I found the class schedule and workload very user-friendly and sustainable.  Upon completion of the program, I held a wealth of valuable knowledge that I immediately put into practice.  In addition, I was awarded a substantial promotion from director to associate vice president.

. . . [Y]our program . . . was great fun and possibly the most interesting thing that I have done in the last 20 years.

The M.P.A. Program at North Georgia College & State University is convenient, affordable, and reputable.  Shortly after completing the program, I was able to secure a new job with better pay and more responsibility.  Since completing the program five years ago, I have a greater sense of accomplishment and direction in my career.  The M.P.A. Program at NGCSU has definitely made a positive impact on my life.  Dr. Barry Friedman, the program coordinator, is an exceptional professor and a great connection in the field of public administration.  I heartily recommend to any prospective students that they apply for admission for study toward the M.P.A. degree at NGCSU!

The education I gained in the M.P.A. Program grows only more valuable since my graduation in 2000.  The program includes tremendous learning experiences, and, for me, it was both challenging and engaging.  As I continue teaching, it still serves me well.  And as I dream of and plan for the nonprofit organization I'd love to start in the future, it will only continue to serve me more.

I am very proud of my M.P.A. degree.  Not only was it a personally rewarding experience, but also it was an eye-opening experience due to the expansive areas of study covered.  I often have statistically valid random samples conducted in my line of work, and extrapolated overpayments are calculated.  I'm confident in these statistical results due to the understanding I developed in the M.P.A. Program at NGCSU.

. . . [E]very year, since I had the privilege of participating in the M.P.A. Program, I experience a deeper appreciation for the association I had with NGCSU [and] the M.P.A. Program. . . .

The program literally turned my life around and has meant more than I would have thought before I enrolled. . . . If there is anything . . . I can ever do for the program . . ., do not hesitate to ask. . . .

Upon completion of the M.P.A. Program, under the guidance of Dr. Barry Friedman, I went directly to law school to further my knowledge of the system of government and laws under which our society operates.

As I write, I am in the middle of the fall-semester exam period for my final year of law school at Georgia State University's College of Law.  I currently work part time with the EPA Regional Office in Atlanta, where I apply things I learned via the M.P.A. Program daily.  I owe much of my success in law school to the foundation that was laid during my time spent earning the M.P.A. degree.  There is no doubt that it put me ahead as I began my legal studies.  Likewise, I have no doubt that I will continue to use the knowledge that I gained in the M.P.A. Program as I begin the practice of law next August, and beyond.

The M.P.A. Program at North Georgia College & State University challenged me in an area that I really wanted to develop – analytical reading and writing.  By the end of the program, which took me two and a half years to complete, I saw tremendous improvement in my critical-thinking and analytical skills.  I am currently pursuing a civil-engineering degree to supplement my M.P.A. degree, which will allow me to be a successful candidate in the field of municipal planning and development.  I feel like the uniqueness of the M.P.A. program is relating academic concepts to real-life situations for public administrators today.

I have attended eight colleges and universities and have earned four graduate degrees in addition to my bachelor's degree.  Having this basis for comparison, I can say categorically that my experience in the M.P.A. program at NGCSU was by far the most enjoyable and the most rewarding in my academic career.  The faculty made the courses intriguing, meaningful, and, frankly, fun.  Significantly, they encouraged discourse and challenged students to really engage the course subject matter.  The work load was demanding, but fair, and always strove towards having students both master academic material and practical material as well.  The faculty were always available, always professional, and always willing to go the extra mile to facilitate student success, and my fellow students were a diverse and interesting group that I bonded with from day one.

The impact for me for earning my M.P.A. at North Georgia was immediate.  I was hired even before I completed the program as an instructor of political science at Gainesville State College.  Four years later, I'm still at GSC on the tenure-track and I use what I learned in my M.P.A. courses daily in the political science classes I teach.  In the long run, earning my M.P.A. at North Georgia not only facilitated my beginning a fun and fulfilling career, but it also helped me to better appreciate the intricacies of government and bureaucracy and the many benefits and responsibilities attendant to being a citizen in a democracy.