The University of Toledo

Master of Public Administration

Degree Requirements

All students must satisfy the following University and program requirements:

a.     Program prerequisite: PSC 3420 (or equivalent).

b.     General course work requirements: 12 graduate courses (36 hours), including at least five courses open only to graduate students, of which three must be at the 6000 level, with a minimum GPA of 3.0. This does not include prerequisites or experiential learning (Research Report for In-Service Students or Internship for Pre-Service Students).

c.   Common core requirements:

PSC 5430  Public Personnel Administration (3)

PSC 5440  Budgeting and Financial Administration (3)

PSC 5470  Public Organization Theory (3)

PSC 6110  Research Methods in Political Science and Public Administration (3)

PSC 6410  Proseminar in Public Administration (3)

PSC 6420  Program Evaluation (3)

PSC 6430  Seminar in Public Policy Theory & Analysis (3)

d.     Electives: Students must take a minimum of five additional courses (15 hours from the list of elective courses in general management, criminal justice, economics and financial administration, health administration, human resources management, nonprofit organizations and urban administration). Electives should be selected in consultation with the M.P.A. adviser and may be used to develop an area of specialization.

e.     Experiential learning: All M.P.A. candidates must demonstrate the application of public administration theory, methods and techniques to a practical job situation. Those employed in a governmental or nonprofit agency at the professional level (in-service students) must complete PSC 5950. Those without government or nonprofit job experience at the professional level (pre-service students) must complete two credit hours of PSC 6940. At the end of the internship, the intern submits a final report and the agency supervisor submits an evaluation of the intern. Pre- service students should begin planning their internships with the program adviser a year before they expect to receive their degree.

f.     Comprehensive examination: Students must pass a written comprehensive examination. A student who fails the examination may retake it once.