Public Administration, MPA

36 credit hours

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) is offered online. All required and elective courses are available online, although they may not be offered every graduate session. Students and prospective students will work with an advisor who will help plan a schedule regarding courses, given the schedule of offerings.

The MPA is a professional graduate program that prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state, and federal/national government; the MPA is also useful if a student is interested in employment with an international organization or agency. Working in the public sector often requires skills that cannot be confined to a single discipline: the public sector and the private sector cross paths, and public officials need the skills of both to function effectively. Public Administration is a blending of business administration, human services, and additional core topics covered in the required public administration courses and the MPA degree program is designed to educate students in the applications of inter-disciplinary skills needed in government operations.

 

Requirements

Core Curriculum

The following courses (21 credit hours) are required for all students completing the public administration degree:

MPA 58300Governmental Budgeting

3

MPA 58400Public Administration: Principles, Applications & Ethics

3

MPA 58600Program-Implementation and Evaluation

3

MPA 58800Business-Government Environment

3

MPA 59001Public Finance & Taxation

3

MPA 59904Economic Analysis for Policy Makers

3

MPA 59990Capstone Course in Public Administration

3

Students select five elective courses (15 credit hours) from these options:

 

MPA elective courses

MPA 59000-59999Special Topics in Public Administration

3

MPA 59905Government Institutions: Performance & Accountability

3

MPA 59908Legal Issues in Public Administration

3

MPA 59909Policy Design and Analysis

3

MPA 59911Policy & Budgetary Forecasting

3

MPA 59912Data Collection & Evaluation

3

MPA 59913State and Local Public Finance, Taxation & Auditing

3

MBA elective courses

ACCT 51010Financial Accounting Concepts

3

ACCT 51011Managerial Accounting

3

ECON 53081Economics Concepts

3

ENTR 57515Small Business Management

3

FIN 52010Financial Policy

3

HRM 56510Strategic Human Resource Management

3

HRM 56545Employment and Labor Law

3

INTL 58001International Business Operations

3

MGMT 56020Organizational Communications

3

MGMT 56025Business Concepts

3

MGMT 56030Management Practices

3

MGMT 56035Organizational Behavior

3

MGMT 56037Organizational Change and Development

3

MGMT 56056Leadership Theory

3

MGMT 56057Leadership Strategies

3

MGMT 56060Business Law and Ethics

3

MGMT 56070Statistics and Quantitative Analysis

3

MGMT 56085Operations Management

3

MIS 54001Management Information Systems

3

MRKT 55010Marketing Principles and Issues

3

Note: Some MBA elective options have specific prerequisites which may not be included in the list of MPA electives.

NPA elective courses

NPA courses are offered in the semester, rather than the five-term, format, with three terms per year (fall, spring, and summer).
NPA 50000Fundraising and Planning

3

NPA 50300/HRM 56560Human Resource Management for Nonprofit Organizations

3

NPA 52000Program and Organizational Evaluation

3

NPA 54000Problem Solving Case Analysis

3

NPA 55000Management of Nonprofit Organizations

3

NPA 56000Leadership

3

NPA 57000Organizational Behavior for Nonprofit Organizations

3

NPA 57100Grantwriting

3

NPA 58000Nonprofit Budgeting and Financial Management

3

NPA 58100Strategic and Program Planning for Nonprofit Organizations

3

NPA 58500Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations

3

Note: Some NPA elective options may have prerequisites that are not included in the list of MPA electives.