Admission

Our MS in Public Administration program was established in the 1950s and gradually evolved into today's program, which combines the study of both public administration and public policy.

The MSPA is a professional degree intended to train individuals for service in government or in the nonprofit sector. Graduate programs in this area, including ours, have a core in the knowledge and skills required for effective public management: planning, problem-solving, decision making, managing people, money and programs, and representing the public interest. We are a NASPAA-accredited program, and the basic program is as follows:

Admission to the Program

Admission to the University does NOT constitute admission to the Department of Political Science’s MSPA program. Students must apply separately to the MSPA program. Please also note that the MSPA program has different standards for admission than the University and different application deadlines.

Beginning in the 2011-12 academic year, the MSPA program ONLY admits new graduate students in Fall quarters. The application deadline for Fall admission is April 10th preceding the Fall term.

Click here for the university's graduate admissions standards.

To apply to the University, go to CSUmentor.

The Department application instructions and forms are available as a PDF file

that you can download and complete. Minimum requirements include:

A GPA in the last 90 quarter (60 semester) units of 3.0 or better.
Two good quality letters of recommendation from supervisors at work and/or college instructors.
An excellent and appropriate (to our program) personal statement.
A current résumé.
Official transcript from all colleges and universities attended including CSULA, please.
The Department application forms and instructions can be downloaded

Master of Science in Public Administration

Here

Level 1. Prerequisites, 8 Units:
POLS 460 Foundations of Public Administration
POLS 462 Public Policy

Level 2. Management Core, 16 Units:
POLS 571 Intergovernmental Relations
POLS 572 Public Sector Organization and Management
POLS 573 Public Sector Human Resource Management
POLS 574 Public Budgeting and Financial Administration

Level 3. Skills Core Sequence, 16 Units:
POLS 578 Research Design for Public and Nonprofit Managers
POLS 579 Public Sector Information Management and Computing
POLS 580 Data Analysis for Public and Nonprofit Managers
POLS 594 Applied Research in Public or Nonprofit Administration

Level 4. Electives, 12 Units:
Three graduate electives with advisor approval

Level 5. Capstone Course, 4 Units:
POLS 590 Seminar: Philosophy of Public Service

Level 6. Comprehensive Examination or Thesis (read more)

Internship

A comprehensive exit exam is the last requirement you will complete before receiving your MSPA degree. Exit exams generally are given twice each year, in Fall and Spring quarters, between the 3rd and 5th week of classes. Comprehensive exam orientation sessions are held at the start of each quarter that the exam is given, and all students who register for the exam are invited to the orientation, and we encourage your attendance. In addition, the MSPA graduate advisor can answer any specific questions about the exams. To be exam eligible, graduate students must have completed their entire program of coursework with a 3.0 GPA.

MSPA Comprehensive Examination Dates

Fall 2012
Distributed Monday Oct. 22 at 9am, due Wednesday Oct. 24 at noon

Winter 2013
Distributed Monday Feb. 4 at 9am, due Wednesday Feb. 6 at noon

Spring 2013
Distributed Monday April 29 at 9am, due Wednesday May 1 at noon

Comprehensive Exit Exam

Special Announcement for New and Returning MSPA Students: All 500-level courses require you to request a permit from the Graduate Coordinator, usually during the middle of the previous quarter. Once a permit has been issued, please register during the regular registration period, so that we can get an accurate count of class sizes and won't have classes prematurely canceled. Conversely, some classes fill up quickly. So please do not wait. Thank you.

MSPA Graduate Students: Starting in Winter 2011, the University's request to conduct all business via "calstatela.edu" email accounts will be observed. Please be sure to use your calstatela.edu email accounts when contacting the MSPA graduate advisor and department office.