A few years ago, Arminé Chaparyan and Aram Chaparyan accomplished something unusual in the realm of municipal government.
The brother and sister, who are alumni of the USC Price School of Public Policy, both became city managers in Los Angeles County.
While sibling city managers are certainly rare, California city managers who studied at the USC Price School are not. In fact, a recent survey by Claremont McKenna College’s Rose Institute of State and Local Government found that, if you’re a city manager in California, there’s a good chance you earned a degree at the USC Price School.
USC granted the highest degree to the most city managers in California, with 30, according to the Rose Institute survey. All the USC graduates earned advanced degrees and all but three received either a master’s or doctorate degree in urban planning or public administration. USC Price is the only school at USC to offer these degrees. USC was the only private university among the top 15 institutions, the report said.
“The Price School has a legacy of training more city managers in California than any other school, and our former students are now leading cities across Southern California and beyond,” said Professor David Brady. “Our students get the essential training they need to become city managers. We’re very proud of the fact that city managers across California and beyond came from our MPA and MPP programs.”
The survey is the latest evidence that a graduate degree from the USC Price School advances the careers of public sector professionals.
- U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the USC Price School No. 5 among the nation’s best public affairs schools for the 2026-2027 period, marking the 10th straight year that the school has been placed in the top 5.
- The Washington Post reported that Master of Public Administration (MPA) degrees are among the top five graduate degrees for return on investment.
- The National Bureau of Economics Research found that the return on investment for MPAs was similar to those for MBA and civil engineering degrees.
If you need more proof, just ask some of those California city managers.
“We got the highest level of education with the best professors at USC Price,” said one of those sibling city managers, Aram Chaparyan, an MPA alum who is now the City Manager of Torrance.
“It opened doors that were previously closed and also opened doors that I didn’t know existed,” said Stone James, City Manager of Twentynine Palms, who earned a Dollinger Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) and a Doctor of Policy, Planning, and Development (DPPD) – both at the USC Price School.
“The thing that I really liked about the Price School and USC was adjunct professors and having people come in with real, practical experience,” said West Hollywood City Manager David Wilson, who earned a Master of Urban Planning (MUP).
“It was learning that practical experience of working with the development community and really building cities. I think the theory is important as well, but really getting your hands into doing the work is what I found important and part of why I selected to go there,” Wilson added.
“The Price School is very instrumental in local government,” said Chris Freeland, City Manager of Indian Wells. “The quality of students I see come out of there into the workforce is bar none one of the best in California if not the nation.”
