Lead Faculty: Dr. Maryam Davodi-Far
The Bachelor of Public Administration (BPA) is designed to meet the educational and professional needs of individuals in the public sector who are interested in professional or career advancement. It also prepares individuals for challenging and dynamic careers in government at the local, state, federal levels. Individuals completing the program are prepared for mid-level positions, teaching or training assignments, or research in the government and nonprofit organizations.
BPA/MPA Transition Program
Students who are currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Public Administration program and have at least a GPA of 3.0 and are within six courses of graduation, may register for the BPA/MPA transition program by taking two MPA classes as electives during the BPA program. To be eligible, students must apply for and begin the MPA program within six months of completing their BPA program. Students may choose up to two of the graduate-level public administration courses with the exception of PAD 631 and PAD 644.
For students in the BPA/MPA transition program, the University will waive two graduate-level public administration courses taken as part of the bachelor's degree, but these students must still meet the residency requirements for the MPA.
Program Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this program, learners will be able to:
To receive a Bachelor of Public Administration, students must complete at least 180 quarter units as described below, 76.5 of which must be completed at the upper-division level and 45 of which must be completed in residence at National University. (In the absence of transfer credit, students may need to take additional general electives to satisfy the total units for the degree.)
Refer to the section of undergraduate admission requirements for specific information regarding application and matriculation.
General Education Program Requirements
The general education program consists of a minimum of 70.5 quarter units. Of the 70.5 units, students must complete at least 45 units at the upper-division level and 4.5 units in diversity enriched course work. A plus [+] indicates a diversity enriched offering. All undergraduate students working toward any associate or bachelor's degree must meet the University diversity requirement.
National University has general education requirements in the following eight areas:
AREA A: ENGLISH COMMUNICATION (minimum 15 quarter units):
AREA B: MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS AND QUANTITATIVE REASONING (minimum 4.5 quarter units)
AREA C: INFORMATION LITERACY (minimum 4.5 quarter units)
AREA D: ARTS AND HUMANITIES (minimum 13.5 quarter units)
AREA E: SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES (minimum 13.5 quarter units)
AREA F: PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (minimum 6 quarter units required (Note: one science lab is required)
AREA G: MODERN LANGUAGE (minimum 9 quarter units)
(Students may satisfy this area by passing a competency test in any second language. They also may satisfy this requirement with 9 quarter units of computer languages, such as C, C++, Java, and Visual Basic, or American Sign Language. Students who satisfy competency by examination must still meet the overall general education unit requirement. Students enrolled in a degree program under the School of Business and Management can elect to take general education electives to fulfill this requirement.)
AREA A-G: GENERAL EDUCATION (minimum 4.5 quarter units)
Courses taken to achieve minimum levels of collegiate-level competency in the areas of writing and mathematical concepts and systems do not satisfy any portion of the general education requirement.
Preparation for the Major (3 courses, 13.5 quarter units)
ACC 201 - Financial Accounting Fundamentals
ECO 203 - Principles of Microeconcomics*
MNS 205 - Introduction to Quantitative Methods for Business*
*May be used to satisfy general education Requirements
Requirements for the Major (12 courses, 54 quarter units):
PAD 400 - Introduction to Public Administration
PAD 401 - Public Policy Development
PAD 402 - Public Administration and Urban Environments
PAD 403 - Government and Community Relations
PAD 404 - Public Administration and the Nonprofit Sector
ACC434 - Government and Nonprofit Accounting
MGT 400 - Ethics in Law, Business and Management
ODV 420 - Introduction to Organizational Behavior
MGT 422 - Team Building, Interpersonal Dynamics, and Empowerment
LED 420 - Adaptive Leadership
MNS 407 - Management Science (Prerequisite MNS 205)
PAD 405 - Senior Research Project
(Prerequisite: completion of 36 quarter units of BPA core courses)
Upper-Division Electives (4 courses, 18 quarter units):
Students are encouraged to take any minors or electives in the following prefix areas: CJA, MGT, HRM, ODV, LAW, ACC, FIN, BKM, HUB, LED and ECO.
This program is available online.
National University is an affiliate of the National University System.