Canfield cites the management training she received as the most relevant aspect to her Capitol Hill job, "though all the management information is hardly unique to a school of government."

Robert Waters, a top aide to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) who received an M.P.A. in 1979, also remembers management as an important component of his education. As a final project for Richard Darman's course on "Managing the Policymaking Process," Waters applied the model to a congressional office "not knowing then that I would end up using that project in the real world."

Brenner lists the policy analysis and public management orientation of the school as helpful

In fact, the M.P.P. career path study echoedthese students' approval of the managementcourses, finding that 35 percent of the alumnithought the K-School should increase the number ofcourses offered in this area.

The survey criticized three aspects of theKennedy School's program: lack of facultyfeedback, faculty advising and the various KennedySchool research centers.

In addition to these academic critiques,Kennedy School graduates have a commoncomplaint--the uncertainty of what to do withtheir degrees. "It [the K-School] is a great placeto go and waste two years," says Canfield, addingthat to profit academically from the environment,Kennedy School students must have very specificgoals.

"One of the real challenges and frustrationsfor those pursuing policy careers in the publicsector is the lack of a defined career path,"Waters says. "For lawyers, there is the challengeof making partner, a teacher shoots for tenure, abusinessman for CEO. But in the public sector thecareer path is just not altogether clear."

Many of the current Hill staffers who graduatedfrom the Kennedy School say they had to experimentbefore they realized how best to apply the skillsthey acquired in Cambridge. Most have tried boththe public and the private sectors, and many havedegrees in law or business to supplement theirKennedy School diplomas.

Williams, an analyst for the Senate BudgetCommittee, received an M.B.A. from Colorado Statein 1983, two years before attending the KennedySchool. He has also finished all the requirementsfor his professional business degree except adissertation for a Ph.D in public finance.

Although Canfield has no graduate degrees otherthan her K-School diploma, she traveled anothertypical career route: the revolving door betweenpublic and private sector. She had five years ofexperience working for Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.)before coming to Cambridge in 1984.

After graduating, Canfield worked for one ofthe "big five" accounting firms as a governmentrelations consultant. "I thought I didn't want togo back to Capitol Hill," Canfield says. Shereturned to federal government two years ago asFowler's chief office manager.

Brenner, on the other hand, has spent hisentire career in the public sphere. While at theK-School, he met with Michael S. Dukakis andfollowed him to the State House when the K-Schoolformer lecturer swept back into office in 1982.Brenner was introduced to Kerry, his currentemployer, by a Kennedy School classmate during theSenator's 1984 campaign. Soon after he moved toWashington and joined Kerry's staff.

But devotion to the public sphere is notuniversal. Some graduates abandon the glamour ofCapitol Hill careers because of the salarytradeoff; their 'revolving door' leads to WallStreet. Brenner has friends from the KennedySchool in corporate finance, junk bonds andinvestment banking. Canfield's Cambridge friendswork for such diverse employers as CBS, Timemagazine, corporate law firms and consultingcompanies.

But those K-School graduates who stuck withpublic service jobs, finding their own route toCapitol Hill, have risen to the top.

While Brenner--like many other K-Schoolgrads--says that his years in Cambridge provided"a very good background for people who expect tohave a career on the Hill," he adds it was not theperfect education. As Van Hollen says, "It's hardto think of anything that can really prepare youfor working on the Hill except for being here.