The Center for Public Policy and Administration has many initiatives that define the center's mission and provide students with specific points of interest. Below are the different initatives at CPPA:

• Science, Technology & Society: The Science, Technology, and Society Initiative (STS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was established to promote multidisciplinary collaboration among the natural, physical and social sciences, engineering and public policy.

• Enviornmental Policy: CPPA plays an important role on the UMass Amherst campus as an interdisciplinary hub for examining the causes and consequences of global environmental change, and for advancing sustainable policy solutions at both the national and international levels.

• Social Inequality & Justice: CPPA core courses are widely informed by rigorous analytical perspectives aimed at meaningful social change; electives enable students to explore in-depth issues ranging from care and family policy to environmental justice. 

• Care Policy: CPPA faculty provide needed research in this critical policy area, and CPPA graduates have become leaders in research, advocacy, and governmental efforts to improve care for individuals and families across the United States.

• Governance: CPPA’s commitment to effective governance has led to faculty expertise in two important subfields:  e-government—the use of information technologies by government agencies to enhance citizen access and improve transparency and efficiency—and collaborative governance—the use of multi-organizational arrangements to solve problems that cannot easily be solved by single organizations.