Public Administration Degree Requirements

Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students

Undergraduate Student Degree Requirements
The Public Administration major requires 21 units of lower division course preparation and 36 units of upper division courses. Required upper division courses include 21 units with an additional 15 units of specialization selected through consultation with the student's adviser.

Lower Division Requirements (21 units)

  • EC 102 Principles of Economics (3 units)
  • EC 101 Principles of Economics (3 units)
  • S 102 Introduction to American Government and Politics (3 units)
  • A 3-unit course in Statistics
  • INFO 180 Information Processing and Computer Programming (3 units)
  • ACCT 201 Accounting Fundamentals I (3 units)
  • PA 200 The Urban Scene (3 units)

Upper Division Requirements (36 units)

  • PA 301 Concepts and Issues in Public Administration (3 units)
  • PA 310 Management of Urban Governments (3 units)
    OR
  • PA 312 Management of State Governments (3 units)
    OR
  • PA 315 Management of Federal Government (3 units)
  • PA 330 Public Personnel Administration (3 units)
  • PA 340 Administrative Behavior (3 units)
  • PA 450 Fiscal and Budgetary Policy (3 units)
  • PA 460 Administration and Public Policy Development (3 units)
  • PA 497 Investigation and Report (3 units)
    OR
  • PA 498 Internship in Public Administration (3 units)
  • Plus additional 15 units selected under advisement.

Gradate Student Degree Requirements

Communication with the Graduate Advisor should be initiated through e-mail: mpa@sdsu.edu.

Required Courses
Elective Courses
Thesis/Exams

The MPA program consists of 36 units of graduate level coursework; 21 units (seven courses) are required courses with 15 additional units (five courses) to be selected under advisement. This degree permits the selection of a program of course work which may be oriented toward a generalist approach or toward an emphasis in areas such as: public policy, fiscal administration, urban administration, or an area of emphasis specially designed by the student. Also offered are formal concentrations in City Planning, and Criminal Justice Administration.

In addition, a student that has little or no practical experience in the public sector will be required to complete up to 12 units of a supervised Internship.

Required Courses

All students must complete the following seven courses ( 21 units). For descriptions of all courses see the SDSU Bulletin of the Graduate Division http://coursecat.sdsu.edu/bulletin/courses.html

  • PA 600 Scope of Public Administration (3 units) This course must be taken and successfully passed before the student may take additional courses. (PA 604 may be taken concurrently)
  • PA 604 Methods of Analysis in Public and Urban Affairs (3 units)
  • PA 605 Seminar in Research Methods in PA (3 units)
    OR
  • PA 606 Seminar in Quantitative Approaches to PA (3 units)
  • PA 630 Public Personnel Administration (3 units)
  • PA 642 Seminar in Administrative Theory (3 units)
  • PA 650 Seminar in Public Financial Management (3 units)
  • PA 660 Administration and Public Policy Development (3 units)
  • If necessary: PA 796 Internships in Public Administration (up to 12 units)
    • An internship of 12 units (one semester) beyond the 36 units of coursework is required of students who have not had equivalent experience.  Students may request to wave the internship requirement if they feel they have adequate experience in the field.  To request an internship waiver provide a letter addressed to the MPA Graduate Advisor, on letterheadfrom your supervisor that states when you began your job and a brief description of your duties, signed by the supervisor.Based on this letter the MPA Graduate Advisor will determine the number of units to be waived.  A request to waive your internship requirement should be made as soon as possible.

Elective Courses

Students must complete an additional 15 units of graduate level courses numbered 500, 600 and 700. A maximum of 9 units of 500-numbered courses may be used to satisfy this requirement. These courses may be in public administration or in related fields in other SDSU departments or schools but must be selected under advisement. For descriptions of all courses see the SDSU Bulletin of the Graduate Division http://coursecat.sdsu.edu/bulletin/

Thesis or MPA Comprehensive Examination

The student may choose one of two options for indicating a mastery of the subject matter for graduation, Thesis or Thesis Project OR Comprehensive Examinations selected in two fields of Public Administration.

To be eligible to take the comprehensive exams the student must have completed 27 units of graduate work, have filed an Official Program of Study and been advanced to candidacy prior to signing up for the comps.  (No exceptions will be made.)

Students choosing the thesis option should contact the Graduate Division for specific information on procedures for thesis. http://gra.sdsu.edu/Graduate/Thesis/index.htm.

The MPA comprehensive exams are given approximately within the 12th week of the Fall and Spring semesters.

Within the first four weeks of the Fall and Spring semesters all students planning to take the MPA comprehensive exams will be expected to attend the MPA Comp Exam meeting. Specific dates will be posted in the PA department and sent to all MPA students.

Each student will take two comprehensive examinations chosen from the following:

  • Personnel/Employee-Employer Relations;
  • Public Policy;
  • Organizational Theory; 
  • Public Finance;
  • Urban Administration;
  • students with a formal emphasis in City planning must take the CP exam;
  • students with a formal emphasis in Criminal Justice must take the CJ exam.