Master of Public Affairs Degree Program (M.P.A.)

Public Affairs Core (18 hours)

• PA 669 - Legal Issues in Public Affairs Credits: 3
• PA 670 - Public Affairs Administration Credits: 3
• PA 671 - Budgetary Processes Credits: 3
• PA 672 - Public Organizational Theory Credits: 3
• PA 673 - Public Policy Analysis Credits: 3
• PA 674 - Research Methods for Public Affairs Credits: 3

Program Electives (6 hours)

selected from:

• PA 571 - Government–Business Relations Credits: 3
• PA 572 - Public Policy Formulation Credits: 3
• PA 675 - State and Local Governance Credits: 3
• PA 676 - Government and Press Relations Credits: 3
• PSC 521 - Political and Organizational Leadership Credits: 3
• PSC 593 - Contemporary Political Systems Credits: 3, R6
• PSC 595 - Seminar: American Political System Credits: 3

Professional Electives (9 hours)

Selected with advisor’s approval from graduate courses pertinent to the individual’s career field.

Criminal Justice Concentration (12 hours)

• CJ 620 - Criminal Justice Administration Credits: 3
• CJ 650 - Criminal Justice/Criminological Theory Credits: 3
• CJ 670 - Criminal Justice Policy Credits: 3
• CJ 675 - Ethics in Criminal Justice Credits: 3

• or appropriate CJ courses as approved by the advisor

Requirements

Students without public service experience will be required to complete a 3 hour internship (PA 685) and submit an internship report based on faculty guidelines. Students with public service experience will be required to take an additional 3 hours of coursework selected from program electives and professional electives instead of an internship.

Students will be required to take a written examination covering all core coursework prior to graduation. The written examination will be taken toward the end of the program after all core courses have been completed. It may be taken during the last semester of coursework, if the student is not in the process of taking a core course. The written examination will be divided into two areas as follows: