A recent review of Master of Public Affairs (MPA) graduates of the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs from 2024-2025 found that the large majority are working in government, nonprofits, and other public-interest roles. The review concludes with an incredible 95% placement rate of MPA graduates into work or further education. 

Roughly four in five graduates with known employers work in the public or nonprofit sectors. Nonprofit and advocacy organizations are the most common employer type, with alumni at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Susan G. Komen, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Jumpstart, Family Crisis Centers, Vote411.org, and the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, among others. Nine graduates work in state government, seven of them in Missouri, including three at the Public Service Commission. The others work for state agencies in Nebraska and California. About eight more are in local government, serving as a city manager, a township manager, a community planner, a public information officer, and a building inspector in Missouri, Ohio, Idaho, Nevada, and California.

The graduates’ reach is also international. Alumni work for the National Assembly of South Korea, the Samoan government, an embassy in Japan, and one is with U.S. European Command. Others work in law enforcement, higher education, and the private sector, including law, telecommunications, health care, and consulting.

Many graduates have already moved into leadership. Their titles include executive director, city manager, township manager, deputy division director, director of projects and planning, and chief global affairs officer. The most common functions are communications and public affairs, followed by policy analysis, research, budgeting, advocacy, fundraising, and program planning.

Brian Taylor, Director of Career Services and Public Relations said, "It's not only that we help students into a career or to advance in their career, it's that we are doing it locally, state-wide, nationally, and internationally.  The impact our student make even early on in their career is incalculable."

The results reflect the aims of the MPA program, which prepares students for leadership in government and public service. They also come at a time when nearly 30% of the federal workforce will be eligible for retirement within five years and fewer than 7% of full-time civil service employees are under age 30.