Academic and Professional Preparation

Students seeking the MPA usually have undergraduate degrees in a variety of disciplines including business, management, government, criminal justice, history, and computer studies, as well as other social/behavioral sciences, physical sciences, and humanities. Regardless of prior academic experience or major, all students admitted to the degree program will have to clearly demonstrate that they have attained the knowledge associated with the following courses:

• American Government or Political Science
• Business Statistics
  May be satisfied by completing UCSP 630 with approval of the program director.  
• College Algebra
• Macroeconomics
  May be satisfied by completing UCSP 621 with approval of the program director.
• Microeconomics
  May be satisfied by completing UCSP 621 with approval of the program director.

Demonstrating the attainment of this knowledge may be accomplished by submitting official undergraduate or military transcripts and/or submitting official scores from standardized exams such as CLEP and DANTES.

Students are encouraged to contact the MPA program director by e-mail at gradpa@ed.umuc.edu, telephone, or in person to discuss admission qualifications. During their first two terms, students must send to the MPA program director a plan on meeting prerequisite conditions not yet satisfied.