Nonprofit Management Education in Schools with Public Affairs Curricula: An Analysis of the Trend Toward Curriculum Integration

Abstract

For almost 20 years, scholars interested in public affairs education have called for innovation in master’s-level curricula to respond to shifts, begun in the 1960s, in how public services are delivered. The integral role of nonprofit organizations as implementers of publicly funded programs and as participants in the larger policy process is a key feature of the new public governance. This article examines recent trends in nonprofit management education in universities that offer master’s-level graduate programs in public affairs. Based on data from 43 schools collected in two waves, first in 2011 and again in 2014, we elaborate a four-level curriculum integration model and document trends in curriculum development. We find that just over half of the sample schools remain in a pre-integration stage of curriculum development. Simultaneously, analysis across the 43 schools reveals that significant movement has occurred among schools in the later stages of curriculum change.