The Master of Public Affairs (MPA) requires 42 semester hours. As an interdisciplinary program, courses are offered by the School of Planning and Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science, as well as from other units such as Management and Organizations in the Tippie College of Business, Strategic Communications in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and the Larned Waterman Nonprofit Resource Center in the College of Law.
MPA Curriculum
Required Curriculum
The semester hour breakdown for students pursing a combined masters degree will differ.
| Course type | Semester hours |
|---|---|
| 7 core courses | 17 s.h. |
| 3 concentration courses (minimum) | 9 s.h. |
| 3 or more PBAF elective or additional concentration courses* | 12 s.h. |
| Public Affairs Capstone I and II | 4 s.h. |
*Completing an internship is optional but strongly encouraged. Course credit for an approved internship will count as elective credits (1, 2, or 3 s.h.) towards the total semester hours required for the degree.
Other requirements
The following requirements must also be met in order to obtain the master's degree:
- All core, capstone, and concentration area courses must be completed with a grade of B- or better
- Students must attain an overall graduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 or better
- Students must pass a final comprehensive exam.
Core curriculum
| Course number | Course title | Semester hours |
|---|---|---|
| PBAF:5117 | Bureaucratic Politics and Public Administration | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:5120 | Public Policy Process | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6200 | Analytic Methods I | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6205 | Economics for Policy Analysis | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6208 | Program Seminar | 1 s.h. |
| PBAF:6225 | Applied GIS for Planning and Policy Making | 1 s.h. |
| PBAF:6233 | Public Finance and Budgeting | 3 s.h. |
Areas of concentration
Students may select from concentrations in Public and Nonprofit Management or Public Policy. For a full list of concentration courses with course numbers, students should refer to the Public Affairs Student Manual section on Areas of Concentration.
Capstone
In the Public Affairs Capstone I and II courses, students engage in analysis of a contemporary public policy problem in an Iowa community and develop recommended action steps. This is done in tandem with the University’s Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) which has been providing public consultation to communities in Iowa for over a decade and is a national model for community engagement and learning.
Typical schedule for full-time students
Students with sufficient previous coursework may request a waiver of a core course.
First Semester
| Course number | Course Title | Type | Semester hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| PBAF:5120 | Public Policy Process | core | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6200 | Analytic Methods I | core | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6205 | Economics for Policy Analysis | core | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6208 | Program Seminar | core | 1 s.h. |
Second Semester
| Course number | Course title | Type | Semester hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| PBAF:5117 | Bureaucratic Politics and Public Administration | core | 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6225 | Applied GIS for Planning and Policy Making | core | 1 or 3 s.h. |
| PBAF:6233 | Public Finance and Budgeting | core | 3 s.h. |
| Concentration or elective course | elective | 3 s.h. |
Third Semester
| Course number | Course title | Type | Semester hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| PBAF:6209 | Public Affairs Capstone I | capstone | 1 s.h. |
| PBAF:6335 | Internship (optional) | elective | 1, 2 or 3 s.h. |
| Concentration or elective courses | elective | 9 s.h. or more |
Fourth Semester
| Course number | Course title | Type | Semester hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| PBAF:6210 | Public Affairs Capstone II | capstone | 3 s.h. |
| Concentration or elective courses | elective | 6 s.h. |