Bachelor of Public Administration

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. The online public administration bachelor’s degree also prepares individuals for challenging and dynamic careers in government at the local, state, and federal levels. Individuals completing the public administration degree requirements 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 up to 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. Students must complete graduate level coursework taken as part of the BPA degree with a grade of “B” or better.

CAEL Portfolio
In partnership with the Council on Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), National University has developed a portfolio-based system of demonstrating that a student has achieved the course outcomes for University undergraduate courses. Credit may apply towards both the lower division and upper division credit requirements of the University's undergraduate degree programs unless specified otherwise in policy or limited by the state or jurisdiction of a student's residence. In our Portfolio program, students demonstrate that what they already know is equivalent to what they would have learned in an equivalent college course. The program is designed to be as flexible as possible to meet students’ needs. Students may have acquired this knowledge through past employment, independent reading and study, training programs or in-service courses, volunteer service, cultural or artistic pursuits, hobbies and recreational pastimes, community or religious activities, organizational memberships, adult education, non-credit courses, study abroad, military training not evaluated for credit by ACE, or other experiences. A portfolio enables students to identify and articulate this knowledge, and potentially earn credit for it. Students learn the process of identifying areas of course-equivalent learning and portfolio development skills through the PRLX2100X course offered through the Division of Extended Learning. The resulting portfolio is submitted for review by Subject Matter Experts for potential award of credit. For further information regarding the Portfolio program, please contact extlearning@nu.edu.