Associate Professor and MPA Program Director · Seattle University
Olha Krupa is a public finance scholar at Seattle University. Her research focuses on fairness and accuracy in property tax assessments and administration, distributional effects of K-12 school finance reform, and state and local public finances in the United States and Ukraine. She holds ann MPA and a PhD in Public Affairs from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Examines how Washington's landmark 2012 McCleary school finance ruling reshaped district revenues across 246 school districts over 2004–2021. Finds the reform increased funding for all districts — not only disadvantaged ones — while constraining local levy revenues, especially in affluent districts after 2018.
Read Paper ↗Documents the context, scale, and political dynamics of US financial assistance to Ukraine — nearly $175 billion between March 2022 and April 2024. Analyzes the federal budget process, supplemental appropriations, and key questions for future reconstruction aid.
Read Paper ↗Examines how voter-approved special property tax levies affect the fiscal health of local governments. Finds that ballot-approved levies play a significant role in shaping local revenue stability and government capacity to fund public services.
Read Paper ↗Uses data from 147 large American cities (2003–2012) to show how declining house prices during the Great Recession reduced assessed valuations and tax collection rates simultaneously — compounding fiscal stress for urban governments — while jurisdictions partially offset losses by resetting millage rates.
View Journal ↗Olha Krupa is an Associate Professor and Program Director of the Master of Public Administration program at Seattle University's Department of Public Affairs and Nonprofit Leadership, College of Arts and Sciences.
She completed her BA in International Business in Ukraine, and earned her MPA and PhD in Public Finance and Public Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her expertise centers on tax policy — particularly equity in property tax assessments, state and local government reform, and K-12 school finance.
Dr. Krupa has held a visiting scholar appointment at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Research and served as a data analyst on a charitable giving study by the Giving USA Foundation. She regularly appears in local media interpreting fiscal and political developments in Ukraine.
She aspires to make public finance and budgeting accessible, understandable, and genuinely useful for public sector professionals throughout the Puget Sound region.
A required MPA course covering financial management principles, budget execution, internal controls, and financial reporting for public and nonprofit organizations.
Graduate · RequiredCovers the theory and practice of public budgeting — including budget cycles, formats, political dynamics, and equity considerations — within government and nonprofit contexts.
Graduate · RequiredA graduate tax policy course focusing on fiscal administration: revenue systems, tax theory, tax types and arithmetics, evaluating tax systems, and fiscal relationships between levels of government.
UndergraduateIntegrative seminar in which MPA students design and execute original applied research projects addressing real policy problems for public sector clients in the Puget Sound region.
Graduate · CapstoneUndergraduate course in which undergraduate public affairs students explore budgeting, financial management, and financial statement analysis using financial data from public sector clients in the Puget Sound region.
Graduate · Capstone"Seattle U's MPA program has outstanding students. We engage in complex topics that begin with incomplete information and oh-so many parameters and then deliver efficient solutions that center on humanity and justice. Our students arrive with courage, creativity, and care for each other, making my teaching a truly rewarding experience."— Olha Krupa, on teaching in the MPA Program
Available for research collaborations, speaking engagements, media inquiries, and MPA program advising.
"She aspires to make public finance and budgeting accessible, understandable, and helpful for all public sector professionals in the Puget Sound area."