MPA Degree Requirements

To earn an Evans School Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree, students must complete 72 quarter credit hours of coursework, a capstone project, and 400-hours of professional experience. The 72 quarter credit hours of required coursework includes core courses and electives, and must include a minimum of 60 quarter credit hours from within the Evans School.

The first year of your Evans School MPA is grounded in a nine-course series that integrates rigorous training in policy and management theory with the practical application of those theories through real-world case studies from organizations across sectors, industries, and geographies.

Managing Politics & the Policy Process positions students as leaders looking primarily outwards to the authorizing environment and a variety of stakeholders. The goal of Managing Organizational Performance is to provide students with language and tools to locate, use, measure, and evaluate the financial resources that organizations need to implement policies. Financial Management & Budgeting looks primarily inwards to organizational operations, while recognizing the external pressures and financial considerations that affect them.

These courses deepen students’ understanding of microeconomic theory and develop their skills in applying it to public policy and management issues. Microeconomic Policy Analysis builds upon introductory microeconomic theory with a deeper discussion of consumer choice and markets. Microeconomic Management Analysis focuses on the problems and opportunities that market-based exchange affords in allocating scarce resources in various situations encountered in real-world policy analysis and management.

This two-quarter Quantitative Analysis sequence aims to help students become critical consumers and competent producers of research and statistical analysis. Students learn to digest and critically assess empirical evidence and understand what analysis is needed in order to make decisions. Throughout the courses, students examine policy questions and related data in order to learn how to apply analytic techniques.

The goal of Public Policy Analysis is to equip students to rigorously assess policy responses to public problems. This course develops a framework students can use throughout their careers to be both better consumers and creators of policy advice. Program Evaluation explores the values and assumptions of using empirical information to assess and improve the efficacy of public or nonprofit programs and policies. The bulk of the course focuses on a variety of empirical approaches to program evaluation, and on causal inference methods in particular.

Through elective coursework, students focus on one or more areas of specialization and take a values, ethics, and equity elective course. Students can count up to 12 graduate-level credits in other UW departments toward the MPA.

Evans School MPA students must complete 400-hours of professional experience (paid or unpaid) if they do not bring at least two years of relevant full-time professional experience prior to entering the program. Professional experiences may include graduate internships, research, part-time or full-time employment opportunities, and consulting.

Gaining professional experience is a cornerstone of the Evans School MPA program because it allows students to apply classroom skills in professional settings. This applied experience directly supports career goals, increases competitiveness in the post-graduation job market, and increases skill proficiency in policy development, implementation, or evaluation.

Our Career Development team evaluates all incoming student applications and informs students of their official status prior to or during their first quarter in the program.

A unique Evans School program, the Student Consulting Lab is a hands-on, immersive experience that serves as the capstone to the MPA degree program. Second-year students, under faculty supervision, are matched in teams to work with regionally-based public and nonprofit sector clients to solve key organizational issues. Students work 10-12 hours per week for a period of five months (January – May) to produce program evaluations, strategic plans, policy analyses, and new program proposals for 40+ nonprofits and public agencies. These projects support students in applying classroom knowledge, building community networks, and creating a portfolio of work.