Careers in public service are attracting more students at TheUniversity of Memphis to majors in nonprofit studies and publicadministration.
"In line with national trends, we have seen rises in enrollmentand student interest in (public and nonprofit administration)degree programs," Campus Executive Director of American Humanics inthe Division of Public and Nonprofit Administration Susan Schmidtsaid.
Interim Director of DPNA Joy Clay attributes the increase inpart to a "new patriotism" that has emerged since the terrorattacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11,2001.
"Since 9/11 many students have a new patriotism which, in manycases, leads to a greater awareness in nonprofit (careers)," Claysaid.
Universities across the country have seen similar increases inenrollment in nonprofit degree-granting programs, Schmidt said.
"It's a relatively new discipline," Schmidt said. "Historically,people have landed in careers in nonprofit (organizations) byaccident. They have either found the for-profit world too difficultor entered a nonprofit job after retirement."
This trend is changing, Schmidt said. Students are now gettingtechnical undergraduate majors in the areas they wish to specializein and go back to school for the Masters of Public Administrationdegree.
Although some students may choose to go directly into the M.P.A.program after receiving their undergraduate degree, Schmidt said,most of the students currently enrolled have been working in thenonprofit sector for some time.
"Most of our students have already begun their careers," shesaid. "They are either making the business to nonprofit transitionor looking to advance within the nonprofit (organization) wherethey are currently employed."
Nonprofit organizations often offer salaries that arecompetitive to those of their for-profit counterparts, according tothe Economic Research Institute, a compensation and benefitsresearch outsourcing company.
In February, ERI released the results of the institute'sresearch for 2002, which stated "executive salaries in nonprofitorganizations increased on average 5.9 percent."
More students are becoming aware that they will have the sameopportunities for job advancement and can make the same amount ofmoney working in the nonprofit sector as they can in its corporatecounterparts, said Schmidt.
"Our nonprofit program has made many nonprofit professionals,"she said.
The DPNA is located in the School of Urban Affairs and PublicPolicy within The University College. Its mission, according toClay, is to teach students how government and nonprofitorganizations work, the context of public service, publicadministration, and the financial management of nonprofitorganizations. The DPNA also teaches students the legal aspects ofrunning a nonprofit organization, Schmidt said.
"Running a nonprofit requires a unique set of skills (different)from those required to run a for-profit business," Schmidtsaid.
Receiving an M.P.A. as opposed to an M.B.A. means that thegraduate has been trained in the skills necessary to run anonprofit, which makes them better suited than a business graduatefor jobs in that sector, Clay said.
Although DPNA offers an undergraduate minor and certificateprogram, it is primarily a Masters program.
The M.P.A is a practice-oriented degree. M.P.A. students withminimal or no relevant public or nonprofit work experience arerequired to complete 300 on-duty hours (30-40 hours per week) in apublic service internship.
"The M.P.A. is a practitioner program geared towards peoplealready in the workplace," Schmidt said.
Undergraduate students who do not want to specialize in aspecific nonprofit area (i.e. biological research, English as asecond language, etc.) can major in Nonprofit Administrationthrough the University College.
