complete master’s degree options in as few as 12 months
award-winning faculty of national and international renown
global professional network 37,000 strong
Explore Master’s Degrees
Public Administration
Master of Public Administration
Prepare to lead positive change through a rigorous yet efficient array of skills-building courses.
- On campus, in Syracuse, N.Y.
- 40 credits plus optional internships
- Complete full-time in 12 to 18 months
Executive Master of Public Administration—On Campus or Online
Fill gaps in your knowledge with a program tailored to your career goals—five to seven years of experience required. An online option for working professionals provides added flexibility.
- Online or on campus in Syracuse, N.Y., options (separate programs)
- 30 credits
- Complete part- or full-time in as few as 12 to 15 months
International Relations
Master of Arts in International Relations
Satisfy your curiosity about the world, and develop skills and knowledge to change it for the better.
- On campus, in Syracuse, N.Y.
- 40 credits with a required global internship
- Required career track selection to focus your studies
- Complete full-time in 18 months
Master of Arts in Public Diplomacy and Global Communications
Prepare to drive change in a range of international contexts through effective public and interpersonal communications. One powerful degree, two schools: the Maxwell School and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
- On campus, in Syracuse, N.Y., and Washington, D.C.
- 43 credits with a required global internship
- Complete full-time in 18 months
Executive Master's in International Relations
Improve your leadership and management skills and global affairs knowledge—seven years of experience required.
- On campus, in Syracuse, N.Y.
- 30 credits
- Complete on a part- or full-time basis
Executive Master’s in International Relations in D.C.
Leverage the combined experience, knowledge and networks of two top-ranked institutions—the Maxwell School and the Center for Strategic and International Studies—and earn your degree while you work in D.C. Seven years of experience required.
- On campus, in Washington, D.C.
- 30 credits
- Complete part-time in as few as 18 to 20 months
Doctoral Program
PhD in Public Administration
Educate the next generation of public service leaders and conduct research that moves the field of public administration and policy analysis forward.
- On campus, in Syracuse, N.Y.
- 72 credits (36 credits beyond the M.A.)
- Full-time residential program, typically completed in 4.5 years
Department Admission Events
We offer a range of in-person and virtual opportunities to learn more about the Maxwell School and degree programs offered by the Public Administration and International Affairs Department, answer questions about the application process, and help you work toward your goals.
See All Department Admission EventsSchedule a One-on-One Meeting
to ask more in-depth questions not covered in the group information sessions. These individual meetings are informational in nature and are not admission interviews.
Request a MeetingStudy in Washington, D.C.
Our D.C. headquarters at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, top-ranked by the Global Go To Think Tank Index, gives students access to leading minds in the world of policy and international affairs, competitive internships, employment opportunities and a deeply engaged network of D.C.-based alumni.
Need a midcareer boost? Explore our Certificates of Advanced Study
We offer a variety of regional, topical and skills-based Certificates of Advanced Study (CAS) to help you focus and refine your expertise. Some CAS can be earned as part of a master's program while others can be earned independent of a degree. Learn to use data to formulate and analyze policy, deepen your knowledge of effective public management practices, develop techniques to promote collaboration and resolve conflicts, broaden your expertise in a specific region of the world, and more.
Home health is one of the nation’s fastest-growing health care sectors. To help patients find high-quality home health agencies, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released quarterly Quality of Patient Care star ratings, summarizing 9 quality measures beginning in July 2015 on its Compare website. In subsequent years, CMS added the requirement that inpatient providers must give patients postacute care quality information, with the expectation that the Compare website be used. As the federal government’s premier guide for those seeking high-quality home health care, it is imperative that the star ratings provide good advice to most patients.
It is unclear, however, whether the star ratings contain meaningful information. One concern is that these ratings are based on outdated data. Another is that the risk adjustment procedures are insufficient, leading to inaccurate ratings. Third, most of the measures used to create the ratings are documented by home health agencies, which could be unreliable. Understanding whether the star ratings predict quality is crucial due to the growing number of people wishing to age-in-place and increasing referrals to home health under value-based purchasing.
This study investigates whether using the highest-rated home health agency available to a ZIP code improves patient outcomes. It further examines whether outcomes were better in places where the highest-rated agencies were above average or much better than the next-best agency, hypothesizing that the effects should be more pronounced for these subgroups. In addition, to gauge the applicability of the findings, I separately examine postacute and community-entry, and rural and nonrural residents. I use a quasi-experimental instrumental variable (IV) method to examine the first 4 quarters of star ratings, using variation in patient proximity to the nearest highest-rated agency as an instrument. The main outcome measure is the number of days independently at home in the 180 days after the end of the initial home health episode. Secondary outcomes include health care setting-specific days and days deceased, and risk of hospitalization, emergency department use, and institutionalization.
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