Public Administration

Overview

Students graduating with the Public Administration Pathway BAPA/MPA degree from University of Colorado Denver are prepared for leadership and management roles in public service, including local, state, and federal governmental agencies and in nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations. 

What you'll study

Both the BAPA and the MPA degrees are offered fully online, providing students with the flexibility to schedule courses around the reality of family and work demands while also engaging both local and fully online students in public service opportunities in their own communities. 

The BAPA/MPA degree program offered by the School of Public Affairs allows high-performing students to count 12 credit hours towards both the BAPA and the MPA degrees. Eligible students are those who have completed at least 75 credits with a minimum 3.5 GPA in the BAPA major and a 3.0 overall GPA, completed the undergraduate Core Curriculum, and who meet the other requirements listed below.

Students are eligible to receive the BAPA degree once they have successfully completed 120 semester hours and all CU Denver undergraduate degree requirements. The MPA will be conferred once the student has completed all requirements of the MPA degree.

BAPA/MPA Program Matriculation

After a student is admitted to the Pathway BAPA/MPA program, they will work with their assigned undergraduate academic advisor to enroll in MPA-level courses each semester. Students can complete up to 6 credit hours of MPA coursework each semester as an undergraduate and a maximum of 12 graduate semester credits can be completed as an undergraduate BAPA/MPA student overall. Students will continue to take undergraduate coursework while also completing graduate-level coursework.

Students in the Pathway BAPA/MPA program may be eligible to complete the MPA-level internship only after successfully passing two MPA-level courses. The MPA-level internship may fulfill both the BAPA and MPA internship requirement. The BAPA-level internship will not fulfill the MPA-level internship. Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average for all course work and a 3.5 grade point average for the BAPA major.