Program Overview

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Master of Public Affairs, MPAff

The Master of Public Affairs program at the University of Iowa is designed to train future leaders to systematically and creatively address the grand challenges facing communities, nations, and the world. With its interdisciplinary public affairs infrastructure, the university is a leader in public affairs locally and nationally. The program educates public affairs leaders who will creatively and knowledgeably address society’s most critical issues and contribute to addressing the grand challenges of the 21st century.

Learning Outcomes

The Master of Public Affairs program is designed to achieve the following learning outcomes:

• Ability To Lead and Manage in Public Governance
  • Understand public administration and management theories and practices.
  • Apply public administration and management theories and practices to achieve the goals of public and nonprofit organizations.
  • Understand budgeting, financing, and human resource management in public and nonprofit organizations.
  • Develop leadership and team-building skills.
• Ability To Participate In and Contribute to the Public Policy Process
  • Understand the policymaking process in the institutional and market context.
  • Identify key stakeholders in the policy process and understand their interactions with the public policy process.
  • Conduct policy analysis and make policy recommendations.
• Ability To Analyze, Synthesize, Think Critically, Solve Problems, and Make Evidence-Informed Decisions in a Complex and Dynamic Environment
  • Properly frame policy problems, policy goals, and policy alternatives.
  • Collect, analyze, and report data, and apply economic, statistical, and spatial analysis methods in data analysis.
  • Synthesize quantitative and qualitative evidence to inform policymaking.
• Ability To Articulate and Apply a Public Service Perspective
  • Recognize competing values in public interest and engage the general public in decision-making.
  • Understand the importance of accountability in public administration.
  • Apply professional codes of ethics in policy analysis, policymaking, and administering policy.
• Ability To Communicate and Interact Productively With a Diverse and Changing Workforce and Society at Large
  • Understand the changing demographics and values of society and the implications of these changes for public service and public policymaking.
  • Value and identify ways to engage and represent the public in the public sector.
  • Develop oral, writing, and media skills for effective communication with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability To Pursue Sustainable Outcomes Through Public Policy, Public Administration, and Public Management (Program-Specific Competency)
  • Understand complex interactions between public, private, and nonprofit organizations and the role of these organizations within human and natural systems.
  • Articulate and apply a sustainability perspective to public administration, management, and policy.
  • Analyze real-world problems through multidisciplinary perspectives and work collaboratively to solve problems.

Requirements

The graduate Master of Public Affairs (MPAff) requires a minimum of 42 s.h. of credit. Students must earn a grade of B-minus or higher in all core and concentration area courses and must maintain a Graduate College program grade-point average of at least 3.00.

Core Courses

Students must earn a grade of B-minus or higher in all core courses except PBAF:6208. The required core courses are:

• PBAF:5117 - Bureaucratic Politics and Public Administration (3 hours)
• PBAF:5120 - Public Policy Process (3 hours)
• PBAF:6200 - Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Policy (3 hours)
• PBAF:6205 - Economics for Policy Analysis (3 hours)
• PBAF:6208 - Program Seminar (1 hour)
• PBAF:6225 - Applied GIS for Planning and Policy Making (3 hours)
• PBAF:6233 - Public Finance and Budgeting (3 hours)

Concentration Area

Students complete 9 s.h. in one of two concentration areas: public and nonprofit management or public policy. 6 s.h. must be in planning and public affairs (prefix PBAF) or urban and regional planning (prefix URP) courses numbered 5000 or above.

Public and Nonprofit Management

• PBAF:6240 - Public Management: State and Local Perspectives (3 hours)
• 6 s.h. from the following courses:
  • JMC:5220 - Foundations of Strategic Communication (3 hours)
  • JMC:5225 - Digital Strategic Communication (3 hours)
  • JMC:5236 - Topics in Strategic Communication (3 hours)
  • JMC:5270 - Leadership Communication (3 hours)
  • LAW:8753 - Nonprofit Organizations: Structure, Governance, and Strategy (3 hours)
  • LAW:8755 - Nonprofit Organizations: Advocacy, Collaboration, and Fundraising (3 hours)
  • MGMT:3500 - Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness I (3 hours)
  • MGMT:3600 - Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness II (3 hours)
  • MGMT:4600 - Nonprofit Ethics and Governance (3 hours)
  • PBAF:6238 - Public Human Resource Management (1 hour)
  • PBAF:6241 - Strategic Management of Public and Nonprofit Organizations (3 hours)
  • PBAF:6282 - Grant Writing (2 hours)
  • PBAF:3560 - Public Policy and Persuasion (3 hours)

Public Policy

• One of the following courses:
  • PBAF:6201 - Data Science for Urban Analytics (3 hours)
  • PBAF:6340 - Public Policy Analysis (3 hours)
• 6 s.h. from the following courses:
  • CEE:3790 - Resilient Infrastructure and Emergency Response (3 hours)
  • CEE:4107 - Sustainable Systems (3 hours)
  • CEE:5410 - Politics and Economics of the Food, Energy, Water Nexus (3 hours)
  • CRIM:3416 - Race, Crime, and Justice (3 hours)
  • CRIM:3417 - Community Corrections (3 hours)
  • CRIM:3425 - Women, Crime, and Justice (3 hours)
  • CRIM:3600 - Crime and Public Policy (3 hours)
  • EPLS:6222 - Introduction to Educational Policy (3 hours)
  • EPLS:6225 - Higher Education Policy (3 hours)
  • EPLS:6228 - K-12 Education Finance and Policy (3 hours)
  • HMP:5610 - Health Policy (3 hours)
  • HMP:5650 - Health Policy Analysis (3 hours)
  • HMP:6710 - Federalism and Health Policy (3 hours)
  • JMC:5248 - Strategic Political Communication (3 hours)
  • LAW:8433 - Environmental Law (3 hours)
  • LAW:8622 - International Environmental Law (3 hours)
  • PBAF:5120 - Public Policy Process (3 hours)
  • PBAF:6201 - Data Science for Urban Analytics (3 hours)
  • PBAF:6340 - Public Policy Analysis (3 hours)
  • POLI:3102 - The U.S. Congress (3 hours)
  • POLI:3104 - Immigration Politics (3 hours)
  • POLI:3118 - Interest Groups (3 hours)
  • POLI:3203 - Campaigns, Elections, and Voting Behavior (3 hours)
  • POLI:3204 - Public Opinion (3 hours)
  • POLI:3518 - Water Wars: Conflict and Cooperation (3 hours)
  • POLI:3519 - Politics of Aging (3 hours)
  • SEES:3420 - Sustainable and Green Building Concepts (3 hours)
  • SEES:4750 - Environmental Impact Analysis (3 hours)
  • SEES:4770 - Environmental Justice (3 hours)
  • URP:5800 - Environmental Policy: Theory and Practice (3 hours)
  • URP:6253 - Designing Sustainable and Healthy Cities (3 hours)
  • URP:6256 - Environmental Policy (3 hours)
  • URP:6258 - Systems and Scenario Thinking (3 hours)
  • URP:6260 - Transportation Policy and Planning (3 hours)
  • URP:6263 - Special Topics in Transportation Planning (3 hours)
  • URP:6266 - Transportation, Urban Form, and Sustainability (3 hours)
  • URP:6271 - Housing Policy (3 hours)
  • URP:6273 - Community Development Through Creative Placemaking (3 hours)
  • URP:6295 - Economic Development Policy (3 hours)
  • URP:6297 - Financing Economic Development for Poverty Alleviation (3 hours)

Capstone

Students take the public affairs capstone courses, typically in their final two semesters. They work on a community, state, federal, or nonprofit project in which they focus their efforts on an analysis of a contemporary public policy problem, research, development of policy proposals, and recommended action steps.

• PBAF:6213 - Public Affairs Capstone I (2 hours)
• PBAF:6214 - Public Affairs Capstone II (3 hours)

Electives

Students complete an additional 9 s.h. of elective coursework. Elective courses may be chosen from planning and public affairs (prefix PBAF) or urban and regional planning (prefix URP) courses numbered 4000 or above, with the exception of URP:6305 and URP:6325; from courses outside of the School of Planning and Public Affairs listed under the preceding "Concentration Area" section; or from the following course list.

• CEE:3003 - Project Management Skills (1 hour)
• EPLS:5240 - Topics in Education (arranged hours)
• EPLS:6217 - Theory and Practice of Leadership (2-3 hours)
• IS:3910 - Approaches to Advocacy: From Theory to Practice (3 hours)

Admission

Admission requires an undergraduate degree and fulfillment of the minimum requirements of the Graduate College. The priority deadline for funding consideration is January 15 for fall admission. Funding for those who submit materials after these dates is considered only as funding permits. Applications for admission are accepted until July 15; April 15 for international students. For spring admission, applications are accepted until December 1.

Career Advancement

Graduates land positions in professional policy analytical and/or managerial service in the public and nonprofit sectors. The degree builds knowledge and skills in a mix of topics that includes policy, economics, statistics, research, and management and prepares students for professions that influence public policy through analysis, application, or management. They have a number of career choices available, many of which lead to executive positions in federal, state, and local governments, or in nonprofit agencies.

Example positions in the local, state, federal, nonprofit, and private sectors include:

• Local: government specialist leading to a city manager, community health director, or public housing manager
• State: program manager for a state housing authority or a policy analyst/program manager for a variety of state agencies
• Federal: presidential management fellow, or starting as a GS-9 position in the federal government in a variety of federal agencies
• Nonprofit: program director leading to a nonprofit organization director
• Public, private, and nonprofit: public and government relations specialist, lobbyist, or elected official

The School of Planning and Public Affairs provides career assistance efforts for both internship and post-graduation job seekers. It offers job information access and one-on-one advising support from the school's career services coordinator.

Sample Plan of Study

Sample plans represent one way to complete a program of study. Actual course selection and sequence will vary and should be discussed with an academic advisor. For additional sample plans, see MyUI.

Master of Public Affairs, MPAff

Plan of Study Grid (Manual)

• First Year
  • Fall:
    • PBAF:5120 - Public Policy Process (3 hours)
    • PBAF:6200 - Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Policy (3 hours)
    • PBAF:6205 - Economics for Policy Analysis (3 hours)
    • PBAF:6208 - Program Seminar (1 hour)
  • Spring:
    • PBAF:5117 - Bureaucratic Politics and Public Administration (3 hours)
    • PBAF:6225 - Applied GIS for Planning and Policy Making (3 hours)
    • PBAF:6233 - Public Finance and Budgeting (3 hours)
    • Concentration area course (3 hours)
• Second Year
  • Fall:
    • PBAF:6213 - Public Affairs Capstone I (2 hours)
    • PBAF:6335 - Internship (3 hours)
    • Concentration area course (3 hours)
    • Elective course (3 hours)
  • Spring:
    • PBAF:6214 - Public Affairs Capstone II (3 hours)
    • Concentration area course (3 hours)
    • Elective course (3 hours)
    • Exam: Master's Final Exam

Total Hours: 42