Q&A: Political science major turns to the MPA Online to focus on his public service career
During the pandemic Nicolas Rodriguez was laid off from his sales and marketing job in the private sector, prompting him to reflect on his career path. With a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, he decided to return to his passion for the government and nonprofit sectors. Now, the 2024 USC Price Master of Public Administration online grad works for Friends of Youth, a nonprofit in Washington dedicated to youth, homeless services, and foster care services.
Q: What factors motivated you to further your education after receiving a bachelor’s in political science and spending time in the private sector?
A: I actually entered this program during the pandemic. So when everything was going on and everything was, you know, shut down, lots of folks were getting laid off, including myself. That was an opportunity to really reflect on where I wanted to take my career. At the time, I was working in the private sector, I was doing a variety of sales and marketing jobs. I wanted to get back into what I really have a passion for which is the government, nonprofit, and public sector side of things. I got my bachelor’s in political science, and so I wanted to take that direction again with my career.
Q: What drove you to pick the USC MPA online over other graduate programs?
A: I think in my particular instance, USC was always kind of a dream school. As I was doing my homework and looking at different MPA programs, it just seemed to make the most sense. I did see that USC was ranked fourth in the U.S. News rankings and that there was an online program. To me that just made the most sense.
The other part of it was just how strong the alumni network is at USC. I’ve got my USC sweater, and even up here in Washington I’ll be wearing it, and I’ll have random people tell me, “Hey USC!” or “Fight On!” The Trojan network is definitely real.
Q: What are your outcome goals and desires for the program?
A: I’ll be coming up real soon to one year at my current job at my nonprofit. I’m a foster care recruiter, so I recruit foster parents for a variety of programs. I’m very happy with where things are at and my organization really likes the work that I do and my contribution. I definitely see the opportunity for promotion and career advancement within my organization and I see how having an MPA will go towards that.
I wanna stick with my current nonprofit for 3 to 5 years and really try to go up the ladder, try to carve out a name for myself, and maybe become a director. There’s a lot of different opportunities, and I really feel that the degree has equipped me with the skill sets to take that in a variety of different ways.
Q: How was your experience with the online modality?
A: The online modality has been very flexible. That flexibility has been really helpful throughout this whole journey given the fact that I’m working and I’m going to school.
Q: How has your interaction and experience been with your fellow students?
A: From my understanding, and from what I’ve observed, we’re all working professionals. We’re not just fresh out of our undergrad programs. So we do come with some professional experience going into it. I’m constantly humbled in how talented, hardworking and smart some of these people are.
Q: Is there a project you’ve done in the program that you are particularly proud of? How do you think it has helped prepare you for the future?
A: The capstone project. My group worked with a nonprofit dedicated to youth programs in Southern California who had come to USC looking for an assessment on what the community needs. They were trying to figure out where to strategically take their organization to meet those needs and to grow as an organization. Our capstone team put together a comprehensive needs assessment. It was so extensive that we had to pass on the work to another capstone team to implement the playbooks that we came up with.
So we spent the entire semester coming up with how to design surveys, how to conduct focus groups, and how to do semi structured interviews. As well as document analysis and being able to tie all those things together to figure out what the narratives and themes are that are coming out of all this data. I’ve never really worked on anything where the final document is like a hundred plus pages long. I’m really proud to be a part of a team that worked hard over 13 weeks to put that together.
Q: Is there something you’ve learned that you think will be the most impactful in your public service career?
A: Being able to dive deep into policy, pick out themes, and analyze existing law. As I was getting into the tail end of this program, I joined the nonprofit that I’m currently working for and I would try to see how different classes and the subject materials would apply back to my current job.
I think if anybody were to get into this program – and if they find themselves in the nonprofit or government sector – that is just such an enriching way to engage with the subject materials. You’re easily able to see how this relates to your current job. Just being able to analyze everything from a budget to how a leadership team arrives at a decision, and the different theories or frameworks that might be the motivating principle beneath why they’re doing something. I think all of those things will definitely translate to wherever my career goes next from here.
Q: Would you recommend the MPA degree online to a prospective student interested in public service?
A: I would absolutely recommend this program to anybody who’s trying to enter the nonprofit or government sector, if you’re wondering about how charities work, or if you’re wondering how things work at the city or local level. Whatever you might be curious about in the public sector, if you really want to take your career in that direction, I would highly recommend it.
Unlike other schooling that I’ve done – where it’s just like here’s the subject, the theories, and the concepts – I feel like this program really sets you up for doing the work. There’s just so much to this program that if you’re gonna enter the nonprofit or the public sector in some way, it’s gonna help you succeed or take your career to the next level.
Learn more about the Master of Public Administration Online today.