Public Administration Program

Political Science Department

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 5710 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 wavier 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