Public Administration, MS

Program Objectives
The MS-PA is a non-thesis required master degree program, for which students can complete their degree within a 12-month time period. The MS-PA in the political science department is designed: to provide relevant knowledge and skills to mid-career professionals or administrators working in the public, private, or non-profit sectors; to help the students to prepare for advancement in their occupations and positions with leadership roles through curricula focused on strengthening analytical and practical knowledge and skills in public sector management; and to help students to obtain competitive knowledge and skills through a comparative analysis of public administration and public policy as they work in a more complex, diverse, and changing administrative environment with increasing use of information technologies within a globalizing world.

Program Admission Requirements
The expectations for admission to the MS-PA programs will mirror and strengthen the admission requirements for the graduate admission to CWU. In as much as the MS-PA program is geared towards professionals already working within a related field, however, there are a few additional admission requirements necessary specifically for the proposed program as listed below:

• GPA of 3.0 for four-year undergraduate studies is required unless otherwise stated by CWU GSR.
• Students will not be required to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).
• Students will be required to have five years of professional experience in the public, private or non-profit sectors beyond a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• Three letters of reference will be required from students.
• Each student will also be required to submit a letter of interest indicating how the program fits into her/his professional goals.
• For international or English as a Second Language students, they will be required to take an English language proficiency test recognized as fulfilling the admission policy of CWU’s School of Graduate Studies Research.
• Application Deadline and Materials: Students must comply with all deadlines and procedures for “applying to CWU” in the graduate admissions section of the CWU catalog. 

Graduation Requirements

• Students completing the MS-PA will be required to complete 47 credits while maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.0.
• The MS-PA requires at least 12 months of full time or 24 months of part-time study to complete the degree.
• Master thesis is not required. However, students will develop and execute a capstone project with a written research report of 25 pages. Once completed, students will be required to undergo an oral completion exam wherein they present their capstone project findings to a faculty committee. Both a written research report and an oral exam are required to successfully complete the degree.
• Graduate faculty committee: The student will have a three-member graduate committee, to be selected in consultation with the program director and the dean of graduate school. This committee assess the oral exam.