Minimum Requirements for the MPA Degree
Requirements for the MPA Degree
Standards of Performance
Minimum Requirements for the MPA are listed below.
Completion of a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate work. At least 30 semester hours
of this work must be in courses at the 500 level or above, and no credit will be granted for
courses below the 400 level. A grade point average of B (3.0 on a 4-point scale) or better is
required for degree candidacy, and students must earn grades of B- or better in all required
courses. Credit will not be counted for any course in which a student earns a grade of C- or
lower.
Completion of six core courses or acceptable equivalents. For all MPA students , the core
courses are the following: PAD 5001 Governance & Institutions; PAD 5002 Organizational
Management & Change; PAD 5003 Information & Analytic Methods; PAD 5004 Economics & Public
Finance; PAD 5005 Democracy & Policy Making; and PAD 5006 Ethics &
Leadership.
Completion of PAD 5361 Advanced Seminar/Professional Practicum. This course
presents students with the opportunity to
apply knowledge gained in coursework to a question of interest drawn from their future or
current careers in public or nonprofit organizations. Class members identify a problem or
policy issue, design a solution or program in a major seminar paper, and
present the results to
the professor and the class. This course must be taken during the last two semesters of a
student's program and after all core and track courses have been completed.
Completion of fifteen semester hours of electives. Elective courses
include a mixture of
specialized courses, workshops, and other formats. Some are explicitly designed for public
managers and some for nonprofit managers; but many others are appropriate to those working in
either sector. Students may choose to use these elective hours to build an area of
concentration designed to meet individual needs. Where appropriate, students may include
specialized courses offered by other departments and schools of the University, with written
approval of the faculty advisor. Areas of concentration should include the nine hours of
coursework and be approved by the student's faculty advisor.
Field study in public administration. All students must complete an internship as part of
their degree program unless they have substantial administrative experience or an accepted
equivalent. Students register for PAD 6910 for three hours credit while completing the
internship. This must be taken in addition to the minimum 36 semester hours required of all
students. Applicants to the program will be reviewed, and those who must complete internships
will be notified.
Additional internship opportunities: Students who satisfy the field study requirements
above may nevertheless opt to participate in an internship as an independent study and may earn
credit for doing so. Those who wish to pursue this opportunity should contact Professor Richard
Box.
*When minimum requirements are changed, students have the option to graduate under the
requirements in effect when they were admitted or under requirements published during their
tenure in the program.
Standards of
Performance
To be in good standing, students must have an overall grade point average of not
less than a 3.0 in all coursework. The academic performance of each student will be
reviewed at the end of each semester. Upon the completion of nine semester hours, a
student who has a grade point average less than 3.0 will, at the Dean's discretion, be
placed on probation or suspended from the program. Nondegree students who do not maintain
a 3.0 grade point average may not be allowed to enroll in GSPA courses. Any student
receiving a grade of F in any course is automatically placed on probation.
After a student has been placed on probation, the student has a maximum of two
semesters (fall and spring) to raise his or her grade point average to 3.0. Courses taken
to raise the cumulative grade point average must be applicable to the degree and must be
taken in the two semesters (spring and fall) immediately following the semester in which the
cumulative grade point average fell below 3.0. Failure to raise the cumulative grade point
average to 3.0 in the time period outlined will result in immediate suspension.
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