Public Administration, Public Finance Management Concentration, M.P.A.

Admission to Graduate Standing - Conditionally Classified

Students must meet the CSU requirements for admission to a master’s degree program. Please consult the Graduate Admissions  section in this catalog for complete information. In addition, applicants may be conditionally classified with a grade-point average of at least 2.75 in the last 60 semester units attempted

Graduate Standing - Classified

A student who meets the above requirements may become a classified student if all following conditions are met:

1. Completes a minimum of 12 semester units of undergraduate coursework in the social sciences or business, six semester units of which must have been upper-division level. At least one of the courses must have been in economics. Upon recommendation of the public administration faculty, suitable practical experience may be substituted for a maximum of six units of the social science/business requirement;
2. completes a one-semester course in basic statistics;
3. satisfies at least one of the following GPA conditions:
   • At least a 3.25 in the undergraduate major and 2.75 in the last 60 units
   • Between 2.75 and 3.24 in the undergraduate major, 2.5 in the last 60 units, and at least 1000 combined score (vocabulary and math) on the General Test of the Graduate Record Exam
   • Between 2.75 and 3.24 in the undergraduate major, 2.75 in the last 60 units, and quality professional experience as evaluated by the M.P.A. coordinator based on job description, resume, two letters of reference and four years of professional administrative service
   • At least a 2.75 in the last 60 semester units and completion of the first 12 units of adviser-approved coursework in this program with a grade-point average of 3.25;
4. scores a minimum of 570 on the TOEFL (international students); and
5. approval of a study plan through consultation with the M.P.A. coordinator.

Core Courses (18 -24 units)

• POSC 497 - Internship in Public Administration (3) (required if no previous public sector administrative working experience)
• POSC 509 - Foundations of Public Administration (3) (required if no previous introductory course in public administration taken within the past three years)
• POSC 521 - Capstone Seminar: Public Administration Theory (3)
• POSC 523 - Administrative Research and Analysis (3)
• POSC 526 - Public Organizational Theory and Behavior (3)
• POSC 571 - Pubilic Budgeting and Finance (3)
• POSC 572 - Human Resource Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations (3)

Written comprehensive examination

Successfully pass a written comprehensive examination, or, with the approval of their concentration and M.P.A. adviser, choose either POSC 597  (project) or POSC 598  (thesis) in lieu of the comprehensive examination. The project and thesis each earn three units of coursework and include a final oral defense

A minimum of half the units must be completed at the 500-level

Additional Information

No more than nine units of postgraduate coursework taken prior to classified standing may be applied to the master’s degree program