Earning the Degree

The Executive MPA offers a curriculum that is designed to reflect the way problems realistically present themselves in the workplace. Courses are organized and planned with deliberate sequencing to maximize learning that carries over from one course to another. The program requires 45 quarter hours of credit rather than the 60 hours required by most conventional MPA degrees. Our program is designed to be completed in 21 months and to meet the unique needs of busy public sector professionals.

I. Core Courses (27 Credits)

(Note: courses not listed in chronological order)

• PA 513 - Administrative Ethics and Values
• PA 518 - Leading Public Organizations
• PA 533 - Public Policy: Origins and Process
• PA 534 - Administrative Law 
• PA 540 - Administrative Theory and Behavior
• PA 545 - Organizational Development
• PA 552 - Analytic Methods in Public Administration II
• PA 583 - Advanced Budgeting Concepts and Techniques
• PA 590 - Human Resource Management in the Public Sector

II. Additional Courses (12 Credits)

• PA 510 - Selected Topics
• PA 510 - International Field Experience
• PA 517 - Leadership Development for Public Organizations
• PA 539 - National Policy Process (Washington, D.C.) 

III. Capstone Requirement (6 credits)

Students will register for the following two courses to complete their Capstone, a culminating project intended to demonstrate mastery of the core skills taught in the program as applied to a real-life problem of public management:

• PA 510 - Advanced Case Analysis
• PA 512 - Case Analysis

Read complete Course Descriptions here.