Comparison of EAPAAand NASPAA criteria in the accreditation of public administration programs

Education is one of the primary factors in terms of development and improvement of the countries. To increase the education quality contributes in employment of more qualified individuals and increase of the quality of the products and services delivered. It is possible to provide that quality only by means of a qualified education for personnel who are the most important factor in the delivery of services. It is one of the determinant factors to provide a qualified public administration education/training before or after employment in terms of public service. Therefore, public administration education is considered as one of the important disciplines in higher education level. Exclusive importance has been given to the education of public employees in the government plans and the five-year development plans. Education and training activities are considered as means to develop public service quality by increasing the knowledge and experiences of public employees. It is accepted that there two well-known schools in public administration field in the world. First one is American school and the second is European school. It is stated that the public administration programs have become more compatible in Europe and the United States since EAPAA and NASPAA have improved the professional collaboration among universities in recent years. Although there are some general rules determined by The Higher Education Board in Turkey, any similar organizations like those in Europe and USA could not been established to arrange and evaluate the standards and principles for the public administration programs in Turkey. The accreditations obtained from this kind of organizations provide advantages for international recognizability of universities and the preferences of prospective students. It indicates that the public administration programs in the Universities in Turkey are weak in terms of international recognizability and student preferences since only two of 122 programs present in Turkish universities have got accreditation from EAPAA. There are almost 50.000 students registered in more than 100 public administration bachelor programs in Turkish Universities. It is observed that the public administration education has been started to examine intensively in symposiums, workshops and books since 2000. It is asserted that the transformation processes in line with New Public Management approach and the beginning of EU membership process in 2004 have resulted in that increase. Although there are some differences in Europe and the United States of America and even in each