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Master of Public Administration

The Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) program serves the needs of pre-service students who wish to begin a career in the management of public or nonprofit organizations, mid-career public or nonprofit sector professionals who wish to enhance their potential for career advancement, and people from the private sector who intend to move into the public or nonprofit sectors. The M.P.A. is a broadly recognized credential for public service management at all levels of government and in many nonprofit organizations. It also serves as a foundation for doctoral work in the field of public administration.

The curriculum of the M.P.A. program provides students with a range of theoretical and practice-based concepts in topical areas such as the field of public administration, leadership, ethics, public policy, methods of conducting research, and human resources and financial management. The curriculum also includes a variety of elective courses that allow students to tailor their programs to their particular career interests.

Minimum Requirements for the M.P.A. Degree

1. Completion of a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate coursework. 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.

2. Completion of six core courses or approved equivalents: PAD 5001 Governance and Institutions; PAD 5002 Organizational Management and Change; PAD 5003 Information and Analytic Methods; PAD 5004 Economics and Public Finance; PAD 5005 The Policy Process and Democracy; PAD 5006 Ethics and Leadership. Students are expected to complete PAD 5001 within their first two semesters of enrollment.

3. Completion of fifteen semester hours of electives. Elective courses include a mixture of specialized courses, workshops, and other formats. 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 prior written approval of the faculty advisor or dean.

4. Completion of the 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 current or future careers in public or nonprofit organizations. The Advanced Seminar/Professional Practicum is taken in the final semester of the studentís program. It allows the student to apply the knowledge and skills gained in his or her coursework through in-class discussions and individual or group projects. All core courses must be completed before a student enrolls in the advanced seminar.

5. Field study in public administration. Students who have limited experience (generally defined as less than one year of experience) in public or nonprofit organizations must complete an internship. Students register for PAD 6910 for three credit hours while completing the internship, which includes a minimum of 300 hours of supervised work and study. This requirement raises the total semester hours needed to earn the M.P.A. degree to 39. Applicants to the program will be reviewed, and those who must complete internships will be notified. Students ordinarily begin an internship following completion of the core and related elective courses.

6. Additional internship opportunities. Students who are not required to complete an internship as part of their degree program may nevertheless opt to participate in a field experience as an independent study and may earn credit for doing so. Those who wish to pursue this opportunity should contact the GSPA Internship Coordinator.