Master of Public Administration Online
This program’s dedicated faculty teach, guide and mentor you in your pursuit to become an accomplished public sector professional who strives to serve communities effectively.
Apply by:
8/4/24
Start class:
8/19/24
Program Overview
Discover the online MPA program
The student-centered Master of Public Administration online program from SIU Carbondale empowers you to become a leader in sectors such as education, infrastructure, environmental protection and emergency management. Through innovative coursework, you will explore public policy analysis, negotiation strategy, budgeting, financial management, organizational leadership and human resources.
Whether you’re already in public administration or want to enter the field, this policy-oriented and management-focused program prepares you to collect, analyze and utilize data to inform policy and aid decision-making. The SIU MPA advisory board – staffed with local, state, federal, and non-profit professionals – meets regularly with our students and faculty to ensure the curriculum provides the experience you need to become a trailblazing leader in public service.
As a student of this Master of Public Administration program, you will:
- Learn how to create change and improve the governance and management of policies
- Understand the opportunities and challenges involved in the development of intergovernmental collaborations
- Explore the role of the public administrator in the analysis, formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies
- Learn how to create change and improve the governance and management of policies
- Understand the opportunities and challenges involved in the development of intergovernmental collaborations
- Explore the role of the public administrator in the analysis, formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies
Career opportunities:
- City Manager
- City Planner
- County Administrator
- Federal or state government employee
- City Manager
- City Planner
- County Administrator
- Federal or state government employee
Also available:
Southern Illinois University Carbondale offers specialized degrees that can help you grow personally and professionally. Learn about our other public health and administration programs.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale offers specialized degrees that can help you grow personally and professionally. Learn about our other public health and administration programs.
Total Tuition
$19,440*
Duration
As few as 14 months
Credit Hours
36
Accreditation
The Network of Schools of Public Affairs, Policy, and Administration (NASPAA) accredits MPA degree programs. Our MPA program was re-accredited in 2015.
Tuition
Choosing this online program is cost-effective
At SIU, we believe that education should be accessible to all, and that’s why the MPA online program’s tuition is budget-friendly and paid by the course.
| Program | Per Credit Hour | Per Course | Per Program* |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPA | $540 | $1,620 | $19,440 |
Tuition breakdown:
Total Tuition
$19,440*
Per Credit Hour
$540
Calendar
Add these important dates to your calendar
Our MPA program is delivered in a 100 percent online format, giving you the freedom to fulfill professional and personal responsibilities while enrolled. Choose the start date that best suits your schedule.
| Term | Start Date | App Deadline | Document Deadline | Registration Deadline | Tuition Deadline | Class End Date | Term Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 1 | 8/19/24 | 8/4/24 | 8/9/24 | 8/14/24 | 8/19/24 | 10/10/24 | 8 weeks |
| Fall 2 | 10/14/24 | 9/29/24 | 10/4/24 | 10/9/24 | 10/14/24 | 12/13/24 | 8 weeks |
| Spring 1 | 1/13/25 | 12/29/24 | 1/3/25 | 1/8/25 | 1/13/25 | 3/7/25 | 8 weeks |
| Spring 2 | 3/17/25 | 3/2/25 | 3/7/25 | 3/12/25 | 3/17/25 | 5/9/25 | 8 weeks |
Now enrolling:
Next Apply Date
8/4/24
Start Class
8/19/24
Ready to take the next steps toward earning your degree?
Admissions
Review the application steps for the Master of Public Administration online program
Apply to the MPA program and prepare to unleash your potential, discover your passions, and create a future that reflects your unique aspirations.
Admission Requirements:
- Two references
- Statement of purpose
- 2.7 Undergraduate GPA
For admission into the MPA online program, you must meet the streamlined requirements below.
- Submit graduate application
- A 2.7 undergraduate GPA from a regionally accredited institution
- Transcripts from all institutions attended (official transcripts are needed prior to the second term, but not needed to apply as unofficial are accepted)
- Resume or CV
- Contact information for at least two references (preferred directly entered into application)
- A personal statement (preferred to be uploaded to application)
Official transcripts and other documents should be sent from the granting institutions to our Graduate School.
Email address: [email protected]
Mailing address:
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Graduate School
1263 Lincoln Drive MC 4716
Carbondale, IL 62901
Admission Requirements:
- Two references
- Statement of purpose
- 2.7 Undergraduate GPA
Courses
Browse the courses in our online Master of Public Administration program
The MPA curriculum is comprised of 12 courses, including 11 core/concentration courses and a capstone, totaling 36 credit hours.
Students must complete all 7 core and capstone courses below.
PADM 503: Research Methods for Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The course aims to familiarize students with analytical techniques and research methods used currently by public administrators. Provides an introduction to applied statistics and data analysis for problems of interest to public administrators.
*Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of the department.
PADM 537: Foundation of Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Introduction to the study and practice of administrative process and public management. Theoretical, political, and practical issues of organizing, staffing, financing and implementing government decisions and other issues are surveyed.
PADM 539: Program Analysis and Evaluation
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The analysis and evaluation of governmental programs. Emphasis is placed upon use of analytical techniques to determine program impact and the use of evaluation in governmental decision making. Prerequisite: PADM 503. Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of department. Lab fee $50.
PADM 542: Public Budgeting and Fiscal Management
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of the theory and practice of budgeting in the public sector and of selected elements of fiscal management. The course focuses on administrative aspects of budgeting and is oriented toward preparation of students for careers in the public service. Students utilize primary materials in conducting individual or class projects aimed at development of budgetary skills.
*Prerequisite: PADM 340 or equivalent. Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of department.
PADM 543: Human Resource Management
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the processes and procedures used in contemporary public personnel systems. Emphasis is placed on examination of competing models of personnel administration, application of personnel management strategies to specific case problems and public sector labor relations.
Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of department.
PADM 545: Organizational Theory and Behavior
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of various approaches to describing and understanding public organizations and the individuals within them. Emphasis is placed on study of the important theoretical literature in the field and on the applications of the theory of practical management problems in governmental units and agencies. Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of department.
PADM 546: Leadership in Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of contemporary theories of leadership and their applicability on the public and non-profit sectors. The course emphasizes the range of behaviors and actions relevant to leadership in contemporary governmental organizations and the analysis of factors resulting in leadership success or failure. *Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of the department.
Students will complete 4 courses from the list below.
PADM 535: Ethical Foundation of Public Service
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Examines the ethical dimensions of public service, particularly as it relates to the cultural context of the United States, while emphasizing the responsibility of the public manager to act with integrity. Assesses the virtues necessary for moral leadership in the public sector, as well as managerial strategies that reinforce ethical climates in public organizations and ethical behavior among public employees. Focuses on contemporary cases to explore the practical relevance of theories of morality and ethics. Special attention will be invested in examining the ethical implications of contemporary modes of governance and tensions between managerial and democratic values.
*Prerequisite: PADM 537.
PADM 534: Governance Networks in Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Explores the shifting locus of public service delivery over time, and examines alternative organizational arrangements through which public services are provided to citizens. Emphasis is placed on the environment, structure and management of service delivery networks including combinations of public, private, and not-for-profit actors. Explores joint agreements, public-private partnerships, and contracting regimes as elements that bind network actors in the process of delivering high quality public services. Additional focus is invested in evaluating the leadership and management strategies that can ensure accountable and ethical public policy implementation by non-governmental organizations that act with the authority of government. The factors that facilitate network performance are also explored.
PADM 541: Seminar in Applied Problems of Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Study of selected problems in public administration and policy. Emphasis placed on the practitioner's perspective.
*Prerequisite: PADM 340 or equivalent. Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of department.
PADM 532: Public and Non-Profit Grant Writing
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Examines the theories, skills and practices for writing grants for nonprofit and public organizations. Students practice these skills by actually preparing grants for a nonprofit or a public organization.
PADM 444: Policy Analysis
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of basic concepts in the policy sciences, approaches to policy analysis, applications to selected areas of policy, and instruments of policy development.
PADM 514: Seminar in Intergovernmental Relations
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of relationships among national, state, and local governments in the American federal systems, with emphasis on recent literature and contemporary issues. Restricted to enrollment in the MPA graduate program or consent of School.
PADM 522: Rethinking NPOs and NGOs: Doing Good Better
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines the question, can NPOs and NGOs do their good works better? In looking for the answer, students considerhow perspective shapes reality, the need for a new framework for action, the conflict between limited resources and seemingly unlimited need, importance of local focus, conflicts between donors' demand for short term results with a situation's requirement for a long term program, issues caused b public policy, roles of gender and ethnicity in solving problems and the role of simplicity. Students will do this in anticipation of becoming leaders/managers of NPOs or NGOs.
PADM 540: Seminar in Public Management
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Courses is designed for advanced MPA students and examines social, political, legal and managerial constraints on the behavior of public administrators. Issues in ethics and the public's expectations of professional administrators are also examined. Restricted to students who are in the MPA program and who have completed at least three required MPA courses, or consent of the department.
PADM 544: Policy Analysis
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course focuses on the development and analysis of public policy alternatives and how they are used in governmental decision making.
PADM 547: Non-profit Marketing and Fundraising
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines the unique resource development needs of nonprofit organizations and public organizations and looks at the principles and practical sides of meeting those through relationship management, marketing and fundraising. Time will be taken to look at all the aspects of a successful relationship, fundraising and marketing management plan. Students will be expected to participate in at least one fundraiser for a local nonprofit during the semester.
PADM 549: Administration of Non-profit Organizations
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Examines the characteristics of nonprofit organizations that distinguish them from the public and for-profit sectors. Explores social and economic functions of nonprofits and such administrative issues as fundraising, working with volunteers and governing boards, satisfying tax codes and service distribution. *Prerequisite: PADM 340 or equivalent. Restricted to enrollment in MPA graduate program or consent of department.
PADM 550: Pro-Seminar in Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of the major literature in the field of public administration. The course will synthesize and integrate the literature and provide an overview of topics to be covered in greater detail in other seminars. Required of M.A. ad PhD. student offering public administration as a graduate area before enrolling in more advanced subject-matter seminars.
PADM 590: Readings in Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Supervised readings in selected subjects. Credits 1-6
PADM 591: Individual Research
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Selection, Investigation and writing of a research paper under the personal supervision of a member of the program graduate staff.
PADM 595: Internships in Public Affairs
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Fieldwork in the office of a governmental or quasi-governmental agency. The internship is arranged by the field representative of the M.P.A degree program. A paper in which the student correlates academic knowledge with practical internship experience is required. Mid-career M.P.A student may receive credit upon completion of a paper relating previous work experience to public administration literature and theory. Restricted to enrollment in the MPA graduate program or consent of department. Graded S/U only.
PADM 596: Research Paper in Public Affairs
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Upon successful completion of core courses, the student expands and develops a previously written MPA graduate program paper. The project involves an issue or problem in public administration and it written with the approval and under the supervision of the student's committee chair. Restricted to enrollment in the MPA graduate program or consent of department.
PADM 594: Capstone Seminar in Public Administration
Duration: 8 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Guides students in preparing the Professional Portfolio displaying competencies developed through their course work and a project applying them to public administration practice. Graded S/U only. Restricted to enrollment in the MPA graduate program or consent of School.
*Tuition does not include fees.