Factors affecting learning outcomes achievement of public administration bachelor students in Ethiopia

Public administration education is a key instrument to address emerging public administration challenges. Ethiopia started public administration education in the 1950s, and currently, 13 public universities are offering bachelor programs in public administration. Nevertheless, PA program learning outcome achievements are not been studied, and comparative studies are absent. By relying on the resource dependency theory and survey data collected from PA Bachelor students (n = 91) and faculty members (n = 28) in three PA-teaching public universities, this article tries to fill these gaps. Significant differences were found between students and faculty members, and between universities with regard to PA learning outcome achievements. The variation between universities in terms of access to resources and student support is also substantial. The difference between students and faculty members, and between universities on the PA faculty quality and the quality of the teaching-learning method proved insignificant. The study confirms public administration faculty members, access to resources, and student support services positively influence PA learning outcomes. The article contributes to PA education literature and PA program evaluation. © The Author(s) 2023.