Public Administration

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

The MPA degree is a 36- to 39-credit program designed to prepare students for management careers in the public and nonprofit sector. Students will meet with the MPA Director when they enter the program in order to develop a plan of study. Subsequent semesters, they meet with their assigned advisor. Required courses provide students with the knowledge of public administration theory and history, applied research methods, leadership ethics, organization theory and design, and the management of financial and human resources needed to be successful in their careers. Elective courses provide students with the options they need to prepare a curriculum tailored to attain a personalized graduate degree in public administration.

The MPA requires at least three years of relevant work experience. Students starting the program without such experience must complete a three-credit internship (MPA 8010: Management Internship). Students work with the MPA Director to arrange internships. Students with relevant work experience in public administration may apply for a waiver of MPA 8010 by submitting a written request to the MPA Director. Students completing an internship take 39 credits for the degree. Students must work 300 hours in their internship, submit five memos to the MPA Director throughout the duration of the semester, and write a concluding paper to earn three credits.

Students also must pass a written comprehensive examination to complete the degree. The comprehensive exam serves as a capstone experience in the MPA program. It is designed to provide students with the opportunity to integrate and to apply the knowledge they have gained through their coursework in the program. In order to pass the exam, students are expected to apply ideas (i.e., theories, concepts, practices, and examples) learned in the MPA program accurately and offer a reasonable argument defending their responses to exam questions.