Curricular Overview:

Students in the dual degree BA in Environmental Studies or BS in Environmental Science from the Curriculum in Environment and Ecology and the MPA from the School of Government program must meet all course requirements of both the BA/BS and MPA programs.

Students in this dual-degree program will acquire theoretical grounding in science and public administration by completing the following requirements:

  • 120 semester credit hours at the baccalaureate level, which will conform to the requirements for a BA or BS from the College of Arts and Sciences
  • 45 semester credit hours for the MPA degree, along with successful completion of a summer practicum experience and portfolio and oral exam

Students will begin taking courses at the MPA level in the fourth year of their undergraduate program, while they are still officially in the baccalaureate program.  Pre-admitted undergraduates may take up to four or five post-baccalaureate-level courses (13.5 maximum credit hours) that will subsequently be transferred to the MPA program, as long as they take enough courses in addition to these graduate level courses to meet the BA or BS graduation requirement. What this means in a practical sense is that by the end of the student’s fourth year, some students will have taken as many as 133.5 credit hours, 13.5 of which will be at the graduate level and will not count towards the 120 credit hours needed to complete the BA or BS degree requirements, but will count towards their MPA degree.

Recommended MPA Elective Courses:

Appropriate MPA courses for early completion include, but are not limited to:

  • PUBA 722 – Federal Policies and Institutions (3 credit hours – Fall)
  • PUBA 730 – Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting and Reporting (3 credit hours – Spring)
  • PUBA 734 – Community Revitalization Methods (3 credit hours – Fall)
  • PUBA 735 – Community Revitalization Applied (3 credit hours – Spring)
  • PUBA 739 – Intergovernmental Relations (1.5 credit hours – Fall)
  • PUBA 740 – Decision Analysis (3 credit hours – Spring)
  • PUBA 751 – City and County Management (3 credit hours – Fall)
  • PUBA 768 – Mediation Skills for Public Organizations (1.5 credit hours – Fall)
  • PUBA 769 – Facilitation Skills for Public Sector Managers (1.5 credit hours – Fall)
  • PUBA 787 – Applied Environmental Finance (3 credit hours – Spring)

Sample Schedule:

The sample schedule provided here is a sample program for an undergraduate study to follow.

  • The student example would take one MPA elective (3 credit hours) during the fall semester of his or her senior year to help determine interest in the dual-degree program.
  • The student would then apply to the MPA program, along with taking two MPA electives (6 credit hours) during the spring semester of his or her senior year.
  • The example student would then only have to take the MPA portfolio course (1.5 credit hours) during the spring semester of the second year in the MPA program. This would allow the student to pursue a job in January rather than in April, where the student has the option of taking the MPA portfolio course on campus or online.

Additional MPA Graduation Requirements:  Please note, in addition to completing a minimum of 45 semester hours of credit for the MPA Program, students are required to complete practicum experience with a public organization. Finally, students will complete a portfolio during the final semester of study, including a comprehensive oral exam. (More information can be found here)