Courses

Core Courses (15 hours)

Required of all students
The five required courses in the MPA “core,” each worth 3 credit hours, are:

• POLS 6210 Public Administration Theory and Behavior
• POLS 6260 Public Management I: Personnel Management and Leadership
• POLS 6280 Public Management II: Budgeting, Fiscal Policy, and Decision-making
• POLS 6200 Public Administration and Public Policy
• POLS 6750 Research Methods

Students must receive at least a 'B' grade in all core classes.

Planned Program

Students interested in creating their own specialization should meet with the Graduate Coordinator as soon as possible to identify a plan of work.  Possible specializations would include for example Public Health Administration, Gender and Administration etc…  

Thesis or Internship/Capstone (3 hours)

Students can choose to complete either 1) a thesis or 2) complete an internship and complete the capstone course offered every Fall and Spring.

THE FIRST SEMESTER

Full-time students are encouraged to take at least 2 core classes in their first semester, plus one additional public administration course.  Students should consider taking Research Methods (POLS 675) and Administrative Theory (POLS 621) early in their studies as future courses may build on this material.