Master of Public Administration

The Master of Public Administration degree is a professional course of study for persons in, or preparing for, mid-level or upper-level management positions in public and nonprofit organizations. The program emphasizes the theoretical, practical, and analytical abilities required of persons holding responsible public positions. Centered in the Department of Social Sciences, it also permits the incorporation of specialized fields of interest such as general administration, criminal justice, urban and regional planning, research and evaluation, and health care administration. 

Admission Requirements

  1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.
  2. A minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4 point scale on the last 60 hours of undergraduate and/or graduate coursework. Candidates with advanced degrees will be given preference.
  3. Three years of full-time employment in a public or non-profit organization is required. A curriculum vita should be submitted to document employment in a public or non-profit organization. A satisfactory score on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) may be substituted for the employment requirement. The GRE requirement can be waived if the applicant earned a 3.25 overall undergraduate GPA or has previously earned a graduate degree, from an accredited university.
  4. A letter expressing interest and motivation for pursuing the degree should be submitted.
  5. A course in research methods is recommended before admission.

MPA Degree Requirements

Each candidate for the degree must satisfactorily complete 36 hours of course work as indicated:

Core Curriculum (24 hours required)

MANA 5320Organizational Behavior

PADM 5331Information Systems in Public Administration

PADM 5332Public Budgeting and Finance

PADM 5336Administrative Ethics

PADM 5350Seminar in Human Resources Management (Same as MANA 5350)

PADM 5396Research Methods

PADM 5397Advanced Social Science Analysis

PADM 5353Public Administration Capstone Seminar

Area of Concentration (12 hours)

The MPA program offers 3 areas of concentration: criminal justice, municipal management, and non-profit management.

Criminal Justice

CRIJ 5302Judicial Policy and Social Process

CRIJ 5303Contemporary Criminological Theory

CRIJ 5307Criminal Justice Policy

CRIJ 5313Contemporary Issues in Corrections

or

CRIJ 5332Law Enforcement: Environment and Practice

Local Government

PADM 5307Metropolitan Problems

PADM 5339Urban and Regional Planning

PADM 5385Studies in Demography

PADM 5308Local Government Management

or

PADM 5309Public Sector Grant Writing

Non-profit

PADM 5307Metropolitan Problems

PADM 5312Non-Profit Management

PADM 5309Public Sector Grant Writing

PADM 5313Strategic Planning for Non-Profit

Graduation Requirements

All candidates for the Master of Public Administration degree must also meet the following requirements:

  1. A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 (4.0 basis) on all work taken for graduate credit. No course with a grade below “C” may be applied toward this degree.
  2. A grade of no lower than "B" in the capstone course.