Public Administration Program

School of Politics, Public Affairs & International Studies

The Program of Study

The MPA curriculum consists of 39 credits including core (7), option-core (2) and elective (4) courses. Core courses are designed to develop comprehensive administrative, managerial, quantitative, financial and analytical skills with an understanding of their applications in different sectors. Elective courses provide opportunity to develop skills in more specialized areas, supplementing the core courses and facilitating the achievement of professional and career objectives. One of the four electives is a required internship in the public arena for pre-service students and can be replaced with an additional elective if the MPA Director approves a waiver. Students may complete the degree within 2 years full-time or approximately 3-4 years part-time.

Required Core Courses

POLS 5000 Survey of Public Administration
POLS 5400 Public Personnel Management
POLS 5410 Administrative Behavior & Theory of Organizations
POLS 5440 Principles & Processes of Government Budgeting
POLS 5510 Public Policy and Program Management
POLS 5684 Empirical Analysis for Public Administration
POLS 5690 Capstone in Public Management

Option Core Courses

All MPA students are required to choose 2 courses designated as option core credit, defined as courses relating to more specific focuses of public administration and taught by MPA faculty members. Some recent examples (many classes may count towards the option core) include:

POLS 5420 Governing Utopia
POLS 5450 Administrative Regulation
POLS 5480 Ethics in Government
POLS 5540 Public Policy Perspectives
POLS 5465 Survey of Non-Profit Management
Other courses arranged with your MPA Advisor

Electives 

Recently Approved Courses

MPA students are required to take 12 total hours of electives, which includes the internship unless a waiver is granted. Students should choose an elective track that most closely relates to their desired area of concentration. All electives must be approved by the MPA Director and may include some additional option-core credits if relevant.

City Management
Environmental
Fiscal
Generalist
Health Care
Management
Non-Profit
Personnel/Human Resources