Each year, over 6,000 students complete Master of Public Administration (MPA) degrees in over 200 university accredited programs. Many of these graduates commit to a career in the public service in one of thousands of public sector organizations at all levels of government or in the non-profit sector. Are students qualified to work successfully with multiple <i>"publics"</i> and to work towards achieving the goals of social equity? The core curricula of 123 National Association of School's of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) accredited MPA programs were examined and the analysis focused on the following question: To what extent do NASPAA accredited programs provide cultural competency training to MPA students through their curricula? This dissertation assesses the current state of the field and recommends cultural competency standards to be adopted by public administration programs. / Ph. D.