The full-time MPA program is a fifty-eight credit, two-year program. Students gain a broad, conceptual understanding of the public sector while developing specialized skills that enable them to contribute in their chosen field.
Team Based Learning
MPA students do much of their coursework as a team. First year students get to know their team members, cohort, faculty, and staff during a week of orientation on and off campus.
Curriculum
Students tailor their program of study to their interests and goals by selecting a public-sector emphasis and specializing in a chosen skill set. During their first semester, students focus their studies on core classes. Students begin taking classes from their chosen sector and skill set in their second semester.
Core classes taken each semester are designed to strengthen skills in areas such as communications, teamwork, decision analysis, statistics, and financial management.
Fall Semester 1
- Project Management
- Statistical Analysis
- Quantitative Decision Analysis
- Organizational Behavior
- Career Exploration
- Career Preparation
- Communication in Public Administration
- Administrative Environment
Winter Semester 1
- Economic Decision Making
- Financial Management
- Public Program Evaluation
- Negotiations
Fall Semester 2
- Human Resource Management
- Ethics for Management
Winter Semester 2
- Legal Issues in Public Administration
- Public Administration Capstone
Sector classes help students prepare to apply their skills in their chosen field. Emphasis options include nonprofit, local government, and state and federal government.
Nonprofit
- NP Structure and Tax
- NP Finance
- NP Organizational Management 1
- NP Organizational Management 2
Local Government
- Local Government 1
- Local Government 2
State and Federal Government
- Public Policy Process
- Intergovernmental Relations
Students tailor their studies by developing skills through elective courses
- Fundraising Tools
- Relationship Management
- NP Resource Development and Leadership
- Data Science for Managers
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Cost Benefit Analysis
- Data Visualization
- Analytics & Forecasting
- Service Design for Social Impact
- Grantwell
- Creating a Virtuous Organization
- Government and NP Accounting
- Public and NP Budgeting
- Debt Management
- Data Visualization
- Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship
JD/MPA Joint Degree
PhD Preparation
Information Systems Minor