5 Year Joint-Degree Program /
ECON-MPSA (PPA)
Bush School of Government & Public Service and Department of Economics
The Bush School of Government & Public Service and the Department of Economics offer a joint-degree program that allows economics majors to enter the Bush School at the beginning of their fourth year at Texas A&M University. This enables students to receive both their economics undergraduate degree (B.S. or B.A.) and a Master of Public Service and Administration (MPSA) graduate degree, with an emphasis on the Public Policy Analysis (PPA) track, in five years.
Description
Students admitted to the joint-degree program will have completed 96 of the 120 hours of course work required to receive a bachelor's degree. These courses must include all of the specific prerequisites for either a bachelor of science or a bachelor of arts degree in economics, as well as the courses required by the College of Liberal Arts and by Texas A&M University for an undergraduate degree.
Economics Bachelor of Science / Bachelor of Arts
- ACCT 209, 210 or 229, 230 (6 hrs, BS); ACCT 209 or 229 (3 hrs, BA)
- English Writing (6 hrs)
- English Literature (6 hrs)
- History (6 hrs)
- Political Science (6 hrs)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (6 hrs)
- Humanities and Fine Arts (9 hrs)
- Natural Sciences (8 hrs)
- Modern Language, intermediate level (6 hrs, BA)
- Quantitative Methods (12 hrs)
- Kinesiology (2 hrs)
- Economics Electives (24 hrs, BS); (21 hrs, BA)
- BS or BA General Electives (5 hrs)
Admitted students will be enrolled in Bush School graduate courses with an undergraduate classification (U4) during the fall of their fourth year and will be re-classified as degree-seeking master's students (G7) upon completing 108 credit hours. This will normally occur at the start of the spring semester of the fourth year.
Students will be required to complete the same 2-year, 48-hour curriculum as other students admitted to the Bush School's MPSA program with an emphasis on the Public Policy Analysis track (not the Public Management track). The curriculum combines 9 core courses in policy analysis, economics, and research methods with 7 electives, several of which may be taken in other departments at Texas A&M University. A professional internship is also completed in the summer between the first and second years at the Bush School for those without substantive professional experience.
Administration/Application
Economics majors who have at least a 3.25 GPA and who will have taken all of their prerequisite courses and otherwise completed 96 hours by the fall of their fourth year will be eligible to apply for the 5-year program during their junior year. Applicants to the 5-year program will submit the same materials (including GRE scores) as other MPSA applicants, and those whose records are judged to be competitive by the mid-January deadline will be invited to attend the Bush School Interview Weekend in late February. Admission criteria for the 5-year program will be the same as for other MPSA-PPA students.
Students who choose not to finish the MPSA degree after being admitted to the 5-year program may exit the program at any time. Completed MPSA courses will be applied to their bachelor's degree in economics, as appropriate. Failure to complete the MPSA program will in no way impede their ability to attain a bachelor's degree in economics when the requirements for that degree are completed.
Those who pursue the joint program will receive both degrees upon completion of the entire 5-year program. Students will not graduate with a bachelor's degree in year four, but rather will earn both their Bachelor of Economics and Master of Public Service and Administration at the end of year five.
Curriculum
Fourth Year
Fall
- BUSH 601: Leadership and Public Admin*
- BUSH 611: Public Policy Formation*
- BUSH 631: Quantitative Methods I*
- ECON 607: Microeconomic Theory (1)
Spring
- BUSH 632: Quantitative Methods II (2)
- BUSH 622: Public Finance (3)
- Two electives chosen in consultation with advisor*+
Summer
- Professional internship
Fifth Year
Fall
- BUSH 675: Capstone Seminar I
- BUSH 615: Policy Analysis
- Two electives chosen in consultation with advisor+
Spring
- BUSH 676: Capstone Seminar II
- Three electives chosen in consultation with advisor+
(1) Economics course double-counted as Bush School requirement
(2) GBS course double-counted as ECMT 463 economics requirement
(3) GBS course double-counted as economics elective
* GBS courses double-counted as general electives
+ Up to 3 of the 7 electives may be taken outside of the Bush School with advisor approval
As indicated above, students will double count courses taken in the Bush School as credit towards their MPSA degree and as substitutes for some of the economics electives and some of the general electives required for the bachelor's degree. ECON 607 will double count as a substitute for an economics elective and as credit towards the MPSA degree.
Advising
Advising for the 5-year program is a coordinated effort by the Undergraduate Advising Office in the Department of Economics and by the director of the MPSA program in the Bush School. Advising by the department will help ensure that interested students have satisfied the prerequisite course requirements for the bachelor's degree by the start of their senior year.
Students can speak to Dr. Richard Anderson, director of economics undergraduate studies, at rka@econmail.tamu.edu or 862-8081, or with Sara Ura at sura@econmail.tamu.edu or 845-9953.
Those wishing to contact the Bush School about the MPSA program's curriculum may contact Kimberly Reeves at kreeves@bushschool.tamu.edu or 862-8821 for an appointment with MPSA program director, Dr. Jeryl Mumpower.
For application and general information, please contact the Bush School recruitment director, Kathryn Meyer, at kmeyer@bushschool.tamu.edu or 862-3476.
