The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at the University of Georgia is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s best for public service education. The MPA degree is designed to educate students for administrative, managerial, and policy analytical careers in federal, state, and local levels of government and the nonprofit sector. The program is open to students with no public service experience and mid-career professionals. The MPA program is a 41 hour program that consists of courses that form a management and policy core (15 hours), research methods sequence (6 hours), socialization and capstone (2 hours), and electives (18 hours).
Students not currently working full-time in the public or nonprofit sector are required to complete a 300 hour internship. The UGA MPA program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). To accommodate working professionals, courses are offered in the evenings at UGA’s main campus in Athens and at the University of Georgia Gwinnett campus.
This major is part of a Double Dawgs pathway: Criminal Justice AB/Public Administration MPA(non-thesis) English AB/Public Administration MPA(non-thesis) Geography AB/Public Administration MPA History AB/Public Administration MPA(non-thesis) International Affairs AB/Public Administration MPA(non-thesis) Management Information Systems BBA/Public Administration MPA Political Science AB/Public Administration MPA(non-thesis) Psychology BS/Public Administration MPA Public Relations AB/Public Administration MPA(non-thesis) Religion AB/Public Administration MPA Sociology AB/Public Administration MPA(non-thesis) Women’s and Gender Studies AB/Public Administration MPA For more information, go to doubledawgs.uga.edu
Graduate Coordinator and MPA Director Eric Zeemering Eric.Zeemering@uga.edu 706-542-2962 Enrolled Student Services Coordinator/Graduate Coordinator’s Assistant Kristin Lawrence krabney@uga.edu 706-542-3510
41 hours
Unofficial transcripts for every institution where a bachelor’s degree or higher was earned Statement of purpose Resume/CV 3 letters of recommendation The GRE is required for all applicants unless they meet one of the following conditions: 1) have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, or 2) have at least a 3.0 GPA and at least 5 years full-time work experience in the public or nonprofit sector. International students: For students whose primary language is not English, proof of English proficiency is required. Students need to submit official university documents according to the UGA Graduate School requirements. Students will also have to show certificate of finances upon acceptance to the program. Apply by the Graduate School’s deadlines for each semester.
The MPA is a 41 credit hour professional degree program. A mandatory socialization sequence and 5 core courses introduce the student to the various fields of public administration and policy. In addition, 2 required courses in research methods assist students in developing a familiarity with quantitative techniques in evidence-based decision making. Students must also select six elective courses to complete their degree.
| PADP 6980 | Socialization Seminar in Public Administration | 1 |
| PADP 6910 | Public Administration and Democracy | 3 |
| PADP 6920 | Public Personnel Administration | 3 |
| PADP 6930 | Public Financial Administration | 3 |
| PADP 6950 | Economic Foundations in Policy Analysis | 3 |
| PADP 6960 | Public Management | 3 |
| PADP 7110 | Research Methods in Public Administration | 3 |
| PADP 7120 | Data Applications in Public Administration | 3 |
| PADP 6990 | Capstone Paper and Portfolio | 1 |
Choose 6 course(s) from the following:
| DMAN 7100 | Introduction to Disaster Management | 3 |
| DMAN 7200 | Disaster Management for Health Professionals | 3 |
| DMAN 7400 | Public Health Crises and Disaster Management | 3 |
| ECHD 7400 | Foundations of College Student Affairs Administration | 3 |
| EDAP 7040 | Educational Law and Ethical Leadership | 3 |
| EDES 4270/6270 | Environmental Design Uses of Geographic Information Systems | 3 |
| EDES(PLAN) 4650/6650 | City Planning | 3 |
| EDHI(HIST) 8000 | History of U.S. Higher Education | 3 |
| EDHI 8010 | Higher Education in the United States | 3 |
| EDHI 8300 | The Law and Higher Education | 3 |
| EDHI 8400 | Finance of Higher Education | 3 |
| EDHI 9050 | Organization and Governance in Higher Education | 3 |
| EHSC 7010 | Fundamentals of Environmental Health Science | 3 |
| FHCE 4310/6310 | Housing Policy | 3 |
| GEOG 4370/6370-4370L/6370L | Geographic Information Science | 3 |
| GLOB 7100 | Foundations of Global Health | 3 |
| HIPR 4000/6000 | Introduction to Historic Preservation | 3 |
| HPAM 7010 | Fundamentals of Health Policy and Management | 3 |
| HPAM 7700 | Leadership and Management of Public Health Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations | 3 |
| HPAM 8400 | Advanced Policy Analysis in Public Health | 3 |
| HPAM 8600 | Advanced Health Economics | 3 |
| HPAM 8650 | Healthcare Finance | 3 |
| HPAM 8700 | Advanced Management of Public Health Organizations | 3 |
| HPAM 8800 | Leadership in Public Health | 3 |
| HPAM(GLOB) 8820 | Global Health Policy | 3 |
| HPAM 8850 | Economic Evaluation Methods in Health | 3 |
| HPRB 7470 | Program Evaluation in Health Promotion and Health Education | 3 |
| HPRB 7480 | Global Health Promotion | 3 |
| HPRB 7500 | Community Health Promotion | 3 |
| INTL 8210 | International Organization | 3 |
| INTL 8279 | Energy Security and Policy | 3 |
| INTL 8285 | Human Rights | 3 |
| JURI 4640/6640 | Public International Law | 3 |
| JURI 5830/7830 | Law and Institutions of the European Union | 2-3 |
| JURI 5885/7885 | Global Governance | 2-3 |
| JURI 5890/7890 | Immigration Law | 2-3 |
| MGMT 7220 | Project Management | 3 |
| MNML 7060 | Fundraising and Development for Nonprofit Organizations | 3 |
| MNML 5226/7226 | Evaluation of Professional Practice | 3 |
| MNML 5237/7237 | Theory and Management of Nonprofit Organizations | 3 |
| MNML 7330 | Innovation Management in Nonprofit and Government Organizations: From Creativity to Implementation | 3 |
| MNML 7947 | Social Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| MNML 5957/7957 | Grant Proposal Writing for Nonprofit Organizations | 3 |
| PLAN 6200 | Urban Planning Law | 3 |
| SOCI 8150 | Criminal Punishment and Society | 3 |
| SOCI 8470 | Deviance and Social Control | 3 |
| SOCI 8810 | Sociology of Crime | 3 |
| SOCI 8820 | Communities and Crime | 3 |
| SOCI 8840 | Gender, Crime, and Justice | 3 |
| SOCI 8850 | Sociology of Law | 3 |
| SOWK 7106 | Evaluation of Community and Institutional Practices | 3 |
| SOWK 7118 | Power, Oppression, Social Justice, Evidence-Informed Practice, Advocacy, and Diversity | 3 |
PADP 6000-level and above courses
| GRSC 7770 * | Graduate Teaching Seminar | 1-3 |
*For students selected for Teaching Assistantships
Select additional courses, as needed, in consultation with an advisor to meet the minimum number of required credit hours for this program.
Graduates of the MPA program have obtained administrative and management positions at all levels of government and in nonprofit agencies. For students graduating during the 2020-21 academic year, 93 percent reported employment in the field within six months of graduation. For the 2021 graduates, 63 percent went into public sector employment, 7 percent reported jobs in the non-profit sector, 10 percent went to work in the private sector, 4 percent continued their education, and 3 percent continued military service.
Students accepted to the MPA program may transfer up to 6 credits of coursework from an accredited institution and must fall within a 6-year timeframe. The student must have received a B or better, and the coursework cannot have been used to fulfill another degree requirement. The courses must be approved by the MPA Director and the Graduate School.
The Department of Public Administration and Policy awards a limited number of assistantships each academic year. Graduate Assistants work for the college for 13-20 hours per week either as a teaching assistant or as a research assistant. In addition to their monthly paycheck for their work, their tuition is waived (though student fees must still be paid by the student). Priority funding is given to fall applicants who apply before January 15 for the following fall semester.
Before graduating, the student must complete a public service internship. Internships must be completed with a government agency or nonprofit organization. This requirement helps to ensure that the degree candidate can perform responsibly and proficiently at a professional or managerial level. Additionally, the internship provides students with an experiential basis for linking their coursework to their future careers as public service professionals. Students must intern for a minimum of 300 hours at the same agency. Students will not receive course credit for completing an internship and cannot count as an internship any experience for which they received course credit. Students have completed internships in a wide variety of federal, state, and local government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Students must complete an exit interview form and describe their internship experience in their capstone paper (PADP 6990).
Graduate Students for Public Administration UGA International City/County Management Association (ICMA) – UGA Chapter Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) – University of Georgia Chapter Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) at UGA
The following graduate programs are available within SPIA: PhD in Political Science and International Affairs PhD in Public Administration and Policy MIP in International Policy MA in Political Science and International Affairs