Political Science, BS/Public Administration, MPA

Program Coordinator: Alethia Cook (125-A Brewster Building; 252-328-5869; cooka@ecu.edu)

The Political Science, BS/Public Administration, MPA accelerated program is initiated while undergraduates are completing the Political Science, BS and is intended for outstanding undergraduates. Eligible students accepted into the program may double-count up to 12 semester hours of approved graduate coursework towards completion of both the Political Science, BS and the Public Administration, MPA degrees.

ECU undergraduate political science students with a 3.0 minimum cumulative GPA and a B or higher in POLS 2090 may apply to the accelerated program during the semester in which they expect to complete a minimum of 75 eligible undergraduate semester hours. Upon acceptance by the Department of Political Science and the submission of the Request to Pursue an Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Program online form by the graduate program director, the student can begin taking graduate courses the following semester. Students should apply for undergraduate graduation one semester prior to completing the undergraduate degree requirements and should apply for formal admission to the graduate program by the advertised application deadline for the desired term of admission. The desired term of admission is the semester following the expected undergraduate graduation term. Complete instructions are found in the Admissions and Readmissions section of the Graduate Catalog.

Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA to remain eligible to participate in the accelerated program. Undergraduate accelerated program students earning a grade of C in any graduate course can count that course toward the Political Science, BS degree but will no longer be eligible to take additional graduate courses and are dismissed from the accelerated program. Students will be able to apply to the Public Administration, MPA program.

Students in the accelerated program who have a cumulative GPA less than 3.0 at the time of undergraduate graduation will be placed on academic probation in their first semester in the master’s program. They will be subject to dismissal from the program if they do not achieve a graduate level GPA of 3.0 in courses related to their program of study after 9 semester hours of graduate credit attempted.

Students accepted into the Political Science, BS/Public Administration, MPA accelerated program can take up to 12 s.h. from the following courses:

PADM 6100 - Politics and Management in Public Agencies (for POLS 3252)
PADM 6101 - Analysis for the Public Sector (for POLS 3031)
PADM 6102 - Quantitative Methods for Public Administration (for POLS 3032)
PADM 6116 - Women, Public Policy, and Administration (for POLS 3041)
PADM 6120 - Public Budgeting and Finance (for POLS 3253)
PADM 6130 - Urban Policy and Administration (for POLS 3242)
PADM 6160 - Public Policy Formulation and Implementation (for POLS 3255)

Graduate courses that may count towards undergraduate electives:

Admission Process

Students interested in the accelerated program should speak with the graduate program director to determine admissibility into the program. Following this discussion, the student and graduate program director should follow the procedures outlined in the Admission and Readmission section of this catalog.