The College of Letters and Science and the Lubar College of Business offer and present jointly the Master of Public Administration (MPA).
The program is designed to provide theoretical and practical preparation for careers in public and non-profit administration with three areas of concentration: municipal management, general public administration, and non-profit management.
A coordinated degree program has been designed to allow students to obtain both the Master of Public Administration and the Master of Urban Planning degrees concurrently.
This program is intended to combine professional training in planning with applied administrative and managerial skills. The MPA/MUP requirements are described later in this section.
Admission Requirements
Application Deadlines
Application deadlines vary by program, please review the application deadline chart for specific programs. Other important dates and deadlines can be found by using the One Stop calendars.
Credits and Courses
This program allows students to complete master’s degrees in Public Administration and in Urban Planning concurrently. The coordinated degree requires 42-45 credits of required courses and completion of a concentration in Public Administration (18 credits). However, because some courses completed for the core requirements of the MUP also may count toward the MPA concentration, students may complete the dual degree with a minimum of 54-57 credits. The total number of credits will depend on the student’s track and choice of concentration in public administration.
Required Courses in Urban Planning (27 credits)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| URBPLAN 701 | Introduction to Land Use Planning | 1 |
| URBPLAN 702 | Introduction to Planning Law | 2 |
| URBPLAN 711 | Planning Theories and Practice | 3 |
| URBPLAN 720 | Urban Development Theory and Planning | 3 |
| URBPLAN 721 | Applied Planning Methods | 3 |
| URBPLAN 740 | Data Analysis Methods I | 3 |
| URBPLAN 810 | Planning Policy Analysis | 6 |
| URBPLAN 811 | Applied Planning Workshop | 3 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Urban Design and Physical Planning | ||
| Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems for Planning | ||
| Urban Design as Public Policy | ||
| Total Credits | 27 | |
Required Courses in Public Administration (18 credits)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BUS ADM 738 | Human Resource Management | 3 |
| URBPLAN 630 | Budgeting and Finance in the Public Sector | 3 |
| POL SCI 763 | Scope and Dynamics of Public Administration | 3 |
| PUB ADM 921 | Public Service Administrative Internship 1 | 3 |
| or URBPLAN 991 | Legislative/Administrative Agency Internship | |
| PUB ADM 959 | Capstone Seminar in Public Administration | 3 |
| Select one seminar in organizational management and leadership from the following: | 3 | |
| Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion | ||
| Transforming Organizations | ||
| Managerial Decisions and Negotiations | ||
| Total Credits | 18 | |
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The internship requirement will be waived for students with significant public sector work experience.
Concentration Requirement (18 credits)
Completion of all the requirements for one of the concentrations in Public Administration. A maximum of six credits of MUP core courses may be used as electives in the MPA concentrations.