Master of Public Administration Degree

 

Mission Statement

The purpose of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree is to prepare individuals for positions of leadership in governmental and non-governmental public service organizations. Since the scope of public services is wide and highly diverse, we seek to serve a range of students by providing a generalist degree in a compact program taught by professionals contributing to the region and the discipline.

The Program

The MPA degree is a professional degree designed to provide the skills required to be an effective public manager: managing people, money and programs in a political environment while safeguarding the public interest.  The MPA curriculum at Arkansas State University combines a mix of the theoretical and the applied and is representative of mainstream graduate public affairs programs.  Due to its compact program size, ASU’s MPA program builds on its strengths by making teaching a priority with the majority of classes capped at 15 students.  The faculty, likewise, bring specific strengths to the program by being able to mix the theoretical and the applied through their scholarly and service activities.

To accommodate working students, most MPA courses are offered once per week in the evening.  A full time student can expect to complete all the degree requirements, including an internship, in less than 2 years.

The MPA program is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).

MPA Curriculum

The Master of Public Administration requires 42 semester credit hours, including 21 hours of core courses and 21 hours of electives, including the internship.  A comprehensive written examination is taken during the student’s last semester.

MPA Core Courses (21 semester hours)

POSC 6003 Techniques of Political and Public Administration Research

POSC 6533 Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation

POSC 6543 Administrative Behavior

POSC 6553 Public Budgeting and Finance

POSC 6563 Seminar in Public Administration

POSC 6583 Computer Applications in Public Administration

POSC 6593 Public Personnel Administration

Restricted Electives (6 semester hours)

POSC 6123 Intergovernmental Relations 

POSC 6123 Urban Politics

POSC 6133 Seminar in Political Parties and Political Behavior

POSC 6143 Seminar in American Government and Politics

POSC 6153 The Supreme Court, Politics and the Law

POSC 6173 Environmental Policy Processes

POSC 6413 Seminar in Political Theory/Ethics and Public Policy

POSC 6503 Managing Local Government

POSC 6513 Administrative Law

POSC 6523 Decision Making

POSC 6573 Grant Writing 

 

Unrestricted Electives (9 semester hours)

Unrestricted electives may be taken from any field for which the student meets course prerequisites with the approval of the MPA advisor. The primary purpose of this group of electives is to permit a MPA student to study areas of government policy and its administration that may be of special professional interest.

Internship (6 semester hours)

The MPA internship program provides a capstone experience as students are offered the opportunity to work with Arkansas state and local government agencies in Little Rock, as well as in other locations, through our involvement with the Arkansas Public Administration Consortium (APAC).  Internships provide entry for students entering the work world or undergoing career change, and normally require six months of full time work combined with independent study, carry a modest salary and are normally undertaken when all course work has been completed.  Students not desiring an internship may substitute a thesis or two additional courses.

Admission Requirements

To be considered for admission to the MPA program, in addition to meeting Graduate School admission requirements, applicants must provide: 1) three letters of recommendation; 2) a 2-3 page statement of purpose discussing why they chose the MPA program, what their professional goals are and how the MPA program will enable them to meet those goals.  For unconditional admission, a student must have a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average or 3.0 (or 3.2 in the last 60 hours).  For conditional admission, academic proficiency must be established by a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.5 or higher plus a score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) adequate to indicate the potential to do well at the graduate level.

Since the scope of government is wide and highly diverse, holders of baccalaureate degrees from all fields are eligible for admission.  However, one’s undergraduate background must include courses with “C” or better in American government, principles of economics, and basic research methods.  These courses are required of all applicants and if a deficiency exists, must be taken in addition to the graduate course requirements specified above.

Graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis for qualified students.  Application forms are available on the Graduate School homepage.

 

 

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