Master of Public Administration

Course Requirements • Program Delivery • Admissions

The Master of Public Administration degree program trains individuals for service as managers in public and non-profit organizations or to serve as evaluators of programs and agencies. The MPA degree is a terminal professional degree, which means that graduates receive in-depth training in the problems facing public-sector managers.  This is done through courses dealing with personnel issues, budgeting and fiscal management; leadership and organizational climate; evaluating the effectiveness of public services; and research techniques. The program includes an in-depth study of the major ideas, problems, and concepts in public administration contained in the common core courses required of all MPA students.

MPA graduates gain employment or advance their careers in the following types of jobs: Town, City, or County Manager; Director of multi-county Council of Governments; Housing Authority Director, Public Works Director; Personnel, Budget, or Utilities Managers in a town or county; Prison Manager; Police Chief; Criminal Information Systems Manager; and Director of a community non-profit group such as a Chamber of Commerce. MPA graduates also enter into federal law and state enforcement positions with agencies such as the Secret Service, US Marshall Service, FBI, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as state probation and corrections officers.
Appalachian's Master of Public Administration degree program is widely recognized for its quality. It is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), the national accrediting group in the field of public administration. There are 275 MPA programs in the United States but only 130 have acquired NASPAA accreditation.   Information on accreditation can be found at www.naspaa.org.

Through the Office of Extension and Distance Education, the College of Arts and Sciences provides this degree program at selected off-campus locations throughout western North Carolina. (For a listing of locations of upcoming programs, see Proposed New Programs.)

Courses taught by Appalachian in the Off-Campus MPA Program

PA 5060	Seminar in Public Administration
PA 5000	Research Methods (As a pre-requisite, student must have completed an undergraduate statistics course.)
PA 5260	Organization Theory and Behavior
PA 5460	Budgeting and Fiscal Administration
PA 5180	Public Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation
PA 5360	Public Personnel Administration
PA 5558	Capstone Research
PA 5559	Capstone in Public Administration
PLN 5425	Group Facilitation
PA 5530	Field-Based Research
PS 5330	Problems in State and Local Government
COM 5530	Crisis Communication
CJ 5060	Administration of Justice
PA 5271	Grants Writing
Total semester hours required = 42

Off-Campus Program Delivery:
The courses required for the MPA degree will be delivered at a designated off-campus site. Appalachian State University faculty will teach each course and a combination of instructional strategies and course delivery systems may be employed. The modes of delivery may include: the instructor's being present at the site; web-based instruction; and/or live interactive two-way, audio-video sessions via the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) network. Generally, two courses will be provided each term. Face-to-face courses will be conducted either during the evenings (e.g., 6:00-9:00 pm one evening a week for 15 weeks) or on weekends (e.g, Friday evenings and Saturday mornings). The program will be cohort-based, meaning the group of students who enter this program will begin together and continue together through the specified sequence of required courses leading to the degree. The courses in each cohort will be offered only once, so a student must be prepared to take the courses as they are made available.

Requirements for Admission:
In order to be considered for admission to this program, an individual must possess a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. In addition to the application form, applicants must present Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores and three letters of recommendation. A candidate will be selected based upon the strength of her/his undergraduate career, the scores on the verbal section and the quantitative section of the GRE, and the endorsements expressed in the letters of recommendation. (Please check with the Office of Extension and Distance Education regarding application deadlines for proposed off-campus programs.)
For more information about this program click Here

To make a request of the Office of Extension and Distance Education click Here