All Master of Public Affairs students are required to select an area of concentration. There are two concentrations to choose from—public and nonprofit management or public policy. Students complete at least 9 s.h. of coursework taken in their area of concentration.

Public and Nonprofit Management concentration

This concentration focuses on the management of public and nonprofit organizations. It provides students an understanding of the principles and foundations for successful leadership, management, and communication in public and nonprofit organizations. Students pursing this area of  concentration are required to take PBAF:6240 Public Management: State and Local Perspectives as well as six additional semester hours within the concentration.

Nonprofit Management

  • Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness I
  • Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness II
  • Nonprofit Organizations: Structure, Governance and Strategy
  • Nonprofit Organizations: Advocacy, Collaboration and Fundraising
  • Nonprofit Ethics and Governance
  • Nonprofit Communications

Public Management

  • Strategic Management of Public and Nonprofit Organizations
  • Grant Writing
  • Community Development Through Creative Placemaking
  • Planning for Disaster Mitigation and Recovery

Strategic Communication

  • Public Policy and Persuasion
  • Digital Strategic Communication
  • Foundations of Strategic Communication
  • Topics in Strategic Communication
  • Cultural Intelligent Leadership
  • Perspectives on Leadership

Public Policy concentration

This concentration focuses on public policy, including public policy analysis, the public policy process (including the political process), and policy areas such as environmental policy, education policy, housing policy, etc.

Students in the public policy concentration are required to take either PBAF:6340 Public Policy Analysis or PBAF:6201 Analytic Methods II as well as six additional semester hours within the concentration.

Courses are organized by topic but do not indicate sub areas of concentrations. Select from any topic or combination of topics of interest.

Criminal Justice

  • Communities and Crime
  • Community Corrections
  • Crime and Public Policy

Economic Development Policy

  • Poverty Policy
  • Economic Growth and Development
  • Economics of Sustainability
  • Economic Development Policy

Educational Policy

  • Administration and Policy in Gifted Education
  • Education in Black America
  • Higher Education Policy
  • School and Community Relationships

Environmental Policy

  • Environmental Policy
  • Systems and Scenario Thinking
  • Resilient Infrastructure and Emergency Response
  • Environmental Impact Analysis
  • Sustainable Development Alternatives
  • Environmental Law
  • International Environmental Law
  • Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Health Policy

  • Designing Sustainable and Healthy Cities
  • Introduction to Healthcare Organization and Policy
  • Population Health
  • Health Policy
  • Federalism and Health Policy
  • Seminar in Health Policy
  • Global Environmental Health
  • Tops in Agriculture and Rural Health
  • Health Economics
  • Health, Work, and the Environment
  • Public Health Policy and Advocacy
  • Health Economics
  • Global Nutrition Policy

Housing and Community Development Policy

  • Poverty Policy
  • Housing Policy
  • Community Development Through Creative Placemaking
  • Real Estate Process
  • Social Welfare Policy and Practice

Methods

  • Analytic Methods II
  • Public Policy Analysis
  • Problems in Methods: Data Visualization

The Politics of Public Policy Making

  • Public Policy Lab
  • Public Policy and Persuasion
  • Native American Public Policy
  • Public Affairs Reporting and Writing
  • Strategic Political Communication
  • The U.S. Congress
  • Immigration Politics
  • Interest Groups
  • Legislative Policy Seminar
  • Policy Analysis
  • Policy and Politics
  • Information Policy and Ethics

Sustainable Development

  • Designing Sustainable and Healthy Cities
  • Sustainable Systems
  • Environmental Impact Analysis

Transportation Policy

  • Transportation Policy and Planning
  • Transportation, Urban Form and Sustainability