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People often confuse Public Administration with Public Management, but they have specific distinctions. Public Management involves managerial activities in public organizations, but it falls under the facets of Public Administration.
With an online bachelor’s in Public Management, you can study healthcare policy, government policy, public management, and emergency management, which all correlate to public society.
In this online degree, you also enhance your leadership, management, and analytical abilities. An internship at a local, state, federal, or international organization may be available for some online degree programs.
Jobs in public policy and social services come with nearly 964,960 employees. Rest assured, you can land a good job in these sectors after graduation!
The Lowdown
Online Bachelor’s in Public Management students emerge as critical thinkers! The online program is essentially designed to enable students to apply theoretical concepts to real-life situations. Students are expected to acknowledge and analyze the interests of different groups.
Along with good public administration, public management helps deliver the best services to the public. community organizations
Methodology
Unsure where to start in your online Public Management bachelor’s degree journey? Check out our list of today’s top online programs! Because the selection process is crucial to truly learning what it takes to do public management work, each online program on our list meets these criteria:
- Offered as an online or hybrid Public Management bachelor’s program for a convenient undergraduate study,
- Features a rigorous online coursework consisting of Public Management, Public Policy, and Public Administration courses integral to the discipline,
- Prepares students for a master’s degree, as well as diverse positions in different settings where public management skills are required, particularly in government agencies and nonprofit institutions as a public policy manager or a public management specialist,
- Provides scholarships and other forms of financial aid to eligible online learners,
- Features a faculty of public management experts,
- Regionally accredited, proving its adherence to academic standards,
- Affiliated with public management agencies and organizations.
Explore our Methodology page and discover more about our online degree ranking system.
5 Best Online Colleges with Online Degrees in Public Management
Florida International University
Online Bachelor’s in Public Policy and Service
The Bachelor of Public Policy and Service at Florida International University is taught online to students. This online degree prepares you for a successful career in the private and public sectors. In this program, students learn from faculty with real-world experience in public service settings how to enter or advance in the field.
Through the program, participants will gain a deeper understanding of public policy, statistics, public management, budget management, and policy creation.
Learn all the variables that influence all levels of government. Understand the intricacies of policy and how it affects society. After graduation, it is possible to work in the field of politics, corporate businesses, public affairs, and community service or outreaches.
FIU’s Department of Public Policy and Administration offers a highly regarded program focused on creative problem-solving, leadership, and management in complex urban environments both nationally and internationally.
What Makes this Program Unique:
A bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and Service provides the unique opportunity to integrate other general studies and courses such as sociology, anthropology, and geography. Among their instructors are respected, published researchers with diverse backgrounds and expertise in various fields.
You can view lectures, receive feedback from teachers in real-time, and collaborate with classmates using the interactive technology provided by the school.
Did You Know?
When you are an entering freshman or a transfer student without an Associate degree, you must complete 60 general education credits along with 60 public policy and service credits. They also provide you with a personal success coach with one-on-one guidance throughout the process.
Whether you are interested in public policy, public management, or public administration, this degree program examines the challenges of urban areas.
Arizona State University
Online Bachelor of Science (BS) in Public Service & Public Policy
Future professionals in public and nonprofit sectors enhance their skills with a Bachelor of Science in Public Service and Public Policy offered by Arizona State University.
Students pursuing public service and public policy degrees are encouraged to establish positive changes wherever they work. In this online degree, expect to sharpen your skills in policy development, public management, leadership, and analysis.
With a degree in public service and public policy, you’ll gain insight into the challenges and opportunities facing nonprofits and governments. There are many online courses and opportunities for you to collaborate and discuss with peers and classmates.
The curriculum provides students with a professional perspective on leadership, policy, and management.
What Makes this Program Unique:
Both in-person and online students will receive the same diploma after completion of this online degree. The Public Service & Public Policy online degree curriculum highlights policy and leadership that allows students to become familiar with key policy and administration issues.
Students will learn persuasive writing skills as well as the links between economics and policy.
Did You Know?
The public and nonprofit sectors usually employ graduates with public service and public policy degrees. Any of these sectors allow you to pursue positions that match your professional interests.
Oregon State University Ecampus
Online Bachelor of Science in Public Policy
By obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy online from Oregon State University, you will become a leader in public policy who can use research data to promote long-term change.
This program is relevant to the times because recent events in world politics have caused impactful shifts in public policy.
Get ready to analyze and address current public policy issues in this online degree. You will explore case studies and real-life issues, and you’ll learn how to view the world and enact problem-solving from different viewpoints.
Students are taught by instructors with a proven track record of implementing innovative, evidence-based solutions for the public good.
What Makes this Program Unique:
The application fee can be waived for undergraduate students pursuing a master’s degree. The undergraduate tuition and fee rate will apply to students enrolled in Ecampus graduate courses. Moreover, students can take graduate-level courses online as undergraduates and then apply the credits to both degrees.
Did You Know?
Their online program is both rewarding and collaborative. As an online student, you’ll gain access to their resources, such as tutoring services, success coaching, library services, and career guidance.
Purdue Global University
Online Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy & Management
One of the public’s usual concerns is the environment and how to increase sustainability. With a web-based Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy & Management offered at Purdue Global University, you can become an environmental manager as you take the first step toward sustainability.
This online degree will prepare you for employment in various settings by providing you with knowledge of environmental issues and public management. By studying environmental policy-making in-depth, you will be able to create and enforce policies in many different fields.
What Makes this Program Unique:
As you study the environmental policy and management online degree, you’ll be exposed to the tools necessary to collect and analyze primary and secondary data.
The course teaches you how to evaluate the impacts of environmental policy on local, state, and national communities and systems. You can take a global perspective on environmental issues.
Did You Know?
When you take environmental policy and management, you can study a combination of subject matters in the environment, public policy, science, and economics. Your first course will include identifying your career goals and aligning your degree path with them.
Finally, a capstone project is required upon completion of this online degree.
University of Arizona
Online Bachelor of Science in Public Management and Policy
The University of Arizona is one of America’s top-ranking schools offering an online Bachelor of Science in Public Management and Policy through the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
In this online program, students develop their professional leadership skills and find employment at various government levels. Some of the skill sets that you’ll gain and nurture are related to public policy, political and legal management, and understanding the public work setting.
Furthermore, a major in this field will prepare you for graduate study in public administration, law, business, or other related studies. This online degree will prepare you for management and administrative positions in government and nonprofit agencies.
You may be able to improve public access to essential government services in a field that offers this potential.
What Makes this Program Unique:
Their graduates hold positions in several government agencies, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and charitable institutions. They also have graduates who have pursued advanced degrees in social work, law, sociology, public administration, and political science.
After graduation, you can develop valuable soft skills that are fit for work environments in nonprofit organizations, law, and sustainability offices.
Did You Know?
Internship opportunities are available both online and in person for students pursuing a degree in Public Management and Policy.
Career Pathways for Online Bachelor’s in Public Management Graduates
Administrative Support
Average Annual Salary: $53,000
Administrative support specialists assist with the creation, organization, and tracking of documents in office settings. They may assist in delivering public information and tracking public policy documentation in a public management context.
Executive Director
Average Annual Salary: $207,000
Accounting, writing, and business management are among the skills taught by an online degree in public management. With this diverse skill set, you would be well suited to lead as an executive director in non-profit institutions. You will oversee the daily operations and day-to-day decision-making process.
Federal Employee
Average Annual Salary: $91,000
Federal careers are one of the most secure job positions for public management graduates. As a federal employee, your health insurance premiums are affordable, you receive yearly raises, you receive substantial paid time off, and you receive employer-matched retirement contributions and a pension plan.
Manager
Average Annual Salary: $74,866
A management professional supervises teams of workers, collaborates with other stakeholders, and establishes policies for an organization. These roles can be found in various industries, including the private and public sectors.
Fundraising Manager
Average Annual Salary: $90,000
Fundraising managers assess and implement fundraising strategies. They build lasting relationships with donors and partners. They create reports as to how budget or funding is allocated or used. Oftentimes, they also organize promotional campaigns for nonprofit organizations or project causes.
Policy Analyst
Average Annual Salary: $105,000
At all levels of government and non-profit institutions, smart, motivated policy analysts are needed and in demand for hire. You will be in charge of dissecting and evaluating public policies.
Online Bachelor’s in Public Management: Popular Courses
Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity is a course on bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, recognizing their differences but celebrating them as well. This will develop your knowledge and skill in handling diverse cultures in societies.
Human Resource Development
The government’s policies and plans are related to manpower development for public employees. Students learn to develop and devise programs related to human resource management.
Public Fiscal Administration
This course introduces the theories, organizations, and procedures associated with fiscal administration. Expect to study topics such as economics, budgeting, finance, and accounting.
Local Government Administration
This course will shed light on handling issues such as social services, housing, and waste collection. As a public management professional, you will need to learn about licenses, registrar services, and business support.
You’ll cover areas in the theoretical and empirical examination of local government and regional administration.
Organization and Management
Students are exposed to the basic concepts that govern business organizations. Also, you will cover the basic areas of management.
Local Planning and Development
Students learn about planning in light of social and economic development trends, issues, and realities. This course explains how local planning works at different stages.
Conflict Resolution
This course examines factors that cause conflict in work environments characterized by diversity, as well as strategies that support a negotiation philosophy. This subject matter also includes dissecting social issues and norms of societies.
Skills Expected of Online Public Management Graduates
Creativity and Flexibility
Public management and public administration professionals should be flexible and creative in adapting to changes in social norms. They must have the capability of coming up with original ideas or the ability to recognize good ideas proposed by others.
After all, innovation can be used to solve problems!
Decision Making
Public managers make many difficult decisions, and they must do so with confidence and conviction. Making informed and rational decisions requires good decision-making skills.
Choosing a course of action that addresses the company’s current state and goals requires good decision-making skills.
Communication
Public management professionals need to communicate with a lot of people. And the ability to conceive ideas and concepts is deemed useless if you cannot convey them to others. Hence, communication skills are necessary in the public management field.
Emotional intelligence
Otherwise known as EI, this skill relies on understanding, managing, and reducing stress while being able to communicate effectively. It also involves overcoming challenges, defusing conflicts, and empathizing with others.
Leadership
Leadership skills are a must-skill for public management graduates. They should have the ability to lead others as they impact change in nonprofit sectors. They must embody the ability to influence others, guide them, and inspire them to reach a common goal.
Negotiation and Organization
Organization and negotiation skills are important in the public management sector since you will need to negotiate and encounter a lot of circumstances with others. You must be well-organized and keen on evaluating win-win situations for both parties. This will help every project to become successful.
Teamwork
When working with others on projects, communicating, or attending meetings, you need teamwork skills. Communication, active listening, honesty, and responsibility are prerequisites for teamwork skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the focus of Public Management?
Similar to a Public Administration bachelor’s degree and similar other Public Administration programs, Public Management seeks to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government by applying private sector business and management techniques.
Private businesses typically focus on economic issues, whereas community service managers and public managers tend to focus on social and cultural concerns.
Why should prospective students major in Public Management?
Public management is a social science degree that is also integrated with public administration studies. The program is perfect for students seeking public service work in government and non-profit organizations.
The course will provide you with skills in management, policy, and politics that are relevant to a variety of careers.
Critical thinking and writing skills are emphasized in education. If you want job security and a good purpose behind what you do for a living, this program is the best fit for you.
As you finish this online program, you can work as a policy analyst, manager, researcher, or public administrator. You can develop many skill sets that will prepare you for diverse careers in both private and public areas.
What career options do holders of a Bachelor of Public Management and Policy degree have?
Majoring in Public Policy and Management requires students to explore the reasons why they choose this degree. Whether it’s for salary reasons or you have the calling to help others, all these reasons and purposes can influence what type of career or occupation you can pursue after graduation.
Public Policy and Management are broad fields, just like a Public Administration online degree. Graduates of this degree program have many career options, including in the federal government.
Another way to pursue higher education is to study for a master’s degree in public policy or law after graduating with an online bachelor’s in Public Management or a bachelor’s in Public Administration.
Summary Points
- An online Bachelor’s in Public Management provides students with theoretical and practical knowledge of public sector management, labor relations, and policy development.
- As you pursue this online degree, you gain the skills to succeed professionally in diverse areas like law, budgeting, economics, research, analytics, science, public management, and community engagement. Similar skills are obtained by Public Administration graduates who become public administrators and administrative services managers.
- A bachelor’s degree in Public Management, similar to an online Public Administration degree, prepares students to work in government agencies and nonprofit organizations at entry-level and middle-management levels.
Additional Information:
