Additional Course Requirements
Students must take fifteen elective graduate credit hours. Students should generally select the fifteen graduate credit hours of elective courses from the courses offered in the MPPA program. However, for students with specialized interests, electives may be chosen from other programs, departments, or some combination of these alternatives. Elective graduate courses must be approved by the MPPA director prior to enrollment in the specific course and courses outside of the MPPA program will only be approved if they have clear relevance to a student’s professional interests.
A three-credit-hour internship (BCPP 569) is required for all students who lack significant administrative experience. Students who have had such experience in the past or who are currently employed in administrative positions may have the requirement waived, if they have more than one year of continuous professional and/or managerial experience. Anyone wishing to waive the internship requirement should address their request to the MPPA Director. If a student waives the internship, then they must take an additional elective to obtain the 39 required graduate credit hours.
All MPPA candidates are required to take a 3-credit hour Capstone course (BCPP 599), preferably during their last semester in the program.
Five-Year BA/MPPA Program – Public Policy and Administration Major, MPPA
The MPPA accelerated program is designed for UTK undergraduates who wish to earn both the bachelor’s degree and the MPPA degrees within approximately 5 years. A qualified student may take up to 9 credit hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both the bachelor’s degree and the MPPA degree. Students are typically considered for conditional admission to the program, during, or immediately after, their third year of undergraduate study at UTK.
To be considered for conditional admission to the MPPA program, a student must have a minimum GPA of 3.40 and must have completed at least 90 credit hours of undergraduate coursework for the bachelor’s degree.
Conditional admission of a student into the MPPA accelerated program must be obtained before taking a graduate course that is to be used to satisfy the requirements of both the bachelor’s degree and the MPPA degree. Students will be informed of the outcome of their application for conditional admission prior to the beginning of their fourth year of undergraduate study.
A student who is conditionally admitted to the MPPA accelerated program may, during their fourth year of undergraduate study, complete up to 9 credit hours of graduate credit that count towards the bachelor’s degree and towards the MPPA requirements, provided that these graduate credit hours were approved both by the Department head (or designee) and by the Graduate School prior to satisfying all requirements for the bachelor’s degree. The form Senior Requesting Graduate Credit must be completed and approved to receive the graduate credit.
Conditional admission into the MPPA accelerated program does not guarantee acceptance into either the Graduate School or the MPPA program. Students who have been conditionally admitted to the MPPA accelerated program must apply for admission to the Graduate School by submitting online application to the Office of Graduate Admissions and to the MPPA program during their fourth year of undergraduate study, following the standard application procedure. Students will be fully admitted to the MPPA accelerated program after they have been accepted both by the Graduate School and by the MPPA program.
Once fully admitted to the MPPA program, accelerated students are required to complete the standard curriculum for the MPPA program.
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