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2024-2025 University Catalog
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major: Public Administration

Degree: Master of Public Administration (MPA) Concentration: Local Government Policy & Administration 2024-2025

Prerequisites (6 credits)

SELECT 1 American Government course

1 undergraduate course in American Government, or American Political System, or POS 2041 Intro to American Government.


SELECT 1 Statistics course

1 undergraduate course in Statistics; or the UNF POS 3733 POS 3734 sequence.

Core Requirements (21 credits)

Mid-career credit:
Applicants for the UNF-MPA program with relevant professional experience may be eligible to have 3 or 6 credits waived from the default 42 credit requirement. Recent graduates from a Bachelor's degree program, and with little professional work experience, will require a total of 42 credits: 39 credits of course work, as well as PAD6946 Internship in Public Administration (3 Credits). Applicants with at least one year of full-time relevant professional experience will require 39 credits of course work, with the internship requirement waived. Applicants with at least five years of professional experience, at the managerial level (with budget authority, or in policy development) may have 3 elective credits waived in addition to the internship, and so will require a total of 36 credits. In the case of either the 36 or 39 credit option, the student must submit a letter from the relevant supervisor(s) attesting to the requisite level of experience. This must be done on application to the program, or by the end of the first semester of coursework.

Undergraduate Accelerated Bachelor to MPA program:
Accelerated Bachelor to MPA students are not eligible for mid-career credit. Students from the UNF Accelerated Bachelor to MPA program who have successfully met the admission requirements of the MPA program, may count toward the MPA 12 credits of 5000-6000 level MPA classes taken as they must take the remainder of the MPA curriculum, an undergraduate, in which grades of B or higher are earned, including PAD6946 Internship (3 Credits).

In order to graduate from the program: grades of C or above are required in all MPA courses; grades of B or above are required in at least 6 of the 7 required core courses; and MPA students must meet the minimum graduation requirements for master's degree students at the university. All students must apply for graduation during registration for the last semester of courses in the program. Deadlines are published online.

NOTE: PAD5700 is a prerequisite for PAD6706, PAD6066, PUP6006, and PUP6007. PAD6060 is a prerequisite for PAD6066.

PAD6060 Public Admin in Modern Society (3 Credits)
PAD5700 Public Admin Research Methods (3 Credits)
PAD6417 Human Res in Public/NP Mgmt (3 Credits)
PAD6227 Government Budget and Finance (3 Credits)
PAD6106 Admin Behavior in Public Org (3 Credits)
PUP6006 Prog Eval Pub/NP Mgt (3 Credits)
PAD6066 Capstone Seminar (3 Credits)
Prerequisite: Requires permission of MPA director

Major Requirements (12 credits)

PAD6807 Urban Administration (3 Credits)
POS6158 Politics/Policy in Local Govt (3 Credits)
PAD6207 Econ and Municipal Finance (3 Credits)

SELECT 1 Local Government elective (3 credits)

Major Electives (9 credits)

Students are required to take 3-9 credits, depending on mid-career credit status, to reach the requisite total credits. Recent graduates require 6 credits plus PAD6946 Internship in Public Administration (3 credits); students with 1+ year of relevant professional experience require 6 credits; and students with 5+ years of managerial experience require 3 credits. Other electives from outside the MPA program may be approved by the MPA Director.

SELECT 1-3 additional MPA courses