The school, housed in its own building on the Charles River since 1978, now grants three degrees: a mid-career Master of Public Administration (MPA), a Master of Public Policy, a two-year MPA, and a Ph.D. Students study under a core curriculum that emphasizes methodology, quantitative reasoning, public management, and political organizational analysis.

Kennedy school graduates choose to enter a variety of fields after receiving their degrees. In 1985, 40 percent chose government positions at the federal, state, or local levels; 11 percent chose nonprofit agencies; 12 percent pursued further education; and 31 percent entered the private sector. The graduates showed an average starting salary of $28,000 compared to $45,000 for Harvard MBA's, according to the Washington Post.

"What Harvard has been trying to do for the last 15 years is to build a professional school like the Business School is to business or the Law School is to law," Allison says.

The dean says the MBA has only been seen as a "ticket" within the last 20 years. Sheila Burke (MPA '82), chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.), says it will take time for a Kennedy School degree to build the credibility and exposure of an MBA.

The Kennedy School covers a broader range of research than other schools of government, such as the University of Texas' Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and Princeton's Woodrow Wilson school, Allison says, because Harvard's center runs the gamut from local, state, and national to international issues.

"No other school takes elected officials seriously," Allison says.

Kennedy School research is distinct from traditional academic research because it concentrates on solving public policy problems, Allison says. For example, the principal book issued by the Kennedy School's Project on Avoiding Nuclear War, "Hawks, Doves, and Owls," ends with a list of 51 specific "do's and don'ts" for avoiding nuclear war.

The newest of the Kennedy School's eight research centers will examine the interaction between the media and government. Other centers examine policies relating to issues such as smoking, energy and health.

But the school is not without its detractors. The most common criticism is that it teaches, in the words of Washington Monthly Editor Charles Peters, "the art of public administration, how to get elected instead of the issues that government is trying to accomplish."

Allison says that by its mere existence, the Kennedy School has achieved its first goal of proving that "it is possible to have a professional school of government and put it on a sound, long-term footing."

The school's most important goal now is to develop a strong faculty with both academic and practical government experience, Allison says.

The school encourages its professors to serve in government to gain "practical, first-hand experience," Allison says. The school's faculty have occupied a number of significant posts: Deputy Treasury Secretary Richard Darman is a former faculty member; Dillon Professor of International Affairs Joseph S. Nye has served as a deputy under secretary of state; and Mary Jo Bane, professor of political economy, is a top policy executive in New York's Social Services Department.

The professors' trips to the capital have helped to form close links between the school and the Washington community. These ties are especially prominent in the Reagan Administration.

In addition to Darman, Professor of Business and Government Roger Porter served as deputy director of the cabinet-level Executive Policy council, and Allison serves as a special, $260-per-day consultant to Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger '38.

Such contacts have helped the school gain government grants and contracts, including a $1.6 million annual contract to teach management to senior defense officials. The school also conducts "executive seminars" for newly elected congressmen, mayors, state and local officials and sub-cabinet officials.