Requirements include completion of eight (8) required courses and six (6) elective courses for a minimum of 42 semester hours (24 hours of required credits and 18 hours of elective credits). The required courses include a substantive core of five courses, a two-course methodology sequence and an applied research project called the Action Report (see below). Successful completion of the required courses (the core courses, methodology courses, and the Action Report) is defined as a grade of B- or better. Students who receive grades of C+ or less in any of the required courses must repeat them. If grades of C are received in elective courses, the courses need not be repeated if the overall grade point average remains at or above a 3.0.
Core Courses (15 credit hours)
PAD 5050 The Profession of Public Administration
PAD 5106 Public Organizations
PAD 5227 Public Financial Management
PAD 5035 Policy Development and Administration
PAD 5417 Human Resource Management
Methodology Sequence (6 credit hours)
PAD 5700 Research Design in Public Administration
PAD 5701 Quantitative Analysis in Public Administration
Applied Research Project (3 credit hours)
PAD 6908 Action Report
Electives/Specialization (18 credit hours)
Prerequisites and Sequencing of Required Courses
Although students may begin in any term, course schedules are arranged
to best serve the needs of students who matriculate each fall. Students
should schedule PAD 5050 and PAD 5700 during their first semester.
PAD 5700 is a prerequisite for PAD 5701 which should be taken the
following term. PAD 6908 should be scheduled in the last term following
completion of PAD 5035. This sequencing enables us to develop your
skills in research and writing further than was possible before
we instituted the prerequisite requirements. For most full-time
students not on a graduate assistantship, three courses (or nine
credit hours) is a full load.
Internship (3 credit hours) [If you have less than one-year full-time professional work experience.]
PAD 5946 Internship
Internship Waiver
Students who lack one year of full-time professional experience
must take the internship class (PAD 5946) for an additional three
(3) credit hours (see below). All students who have more than a
year of full-time professional work experience, defined as a job
requiring a BA degree (and totaling some 2,000 work hours), shall
give a short letter to the MPA Director asking to be waived from
the internship requirement, and attach a copy of your current resume.
The letter should spell out the professional jobs that have been
held (including descriptions of duties if required), the inclusive
dates, and the number of hours per week that the position entailed.
The jobs that students hold during their master’s program
can count towards the internship waiver, and more than one job can
be used to compile the year’s work experience.
The program enables students to choose from the university's resources
in a way that best fits their career needs and aspirations. As noted,
the School has designed professional specializations oriented toward
certain career paths.