5 Year Joint-Degree Program / POLS-MPSA
Bush School of Government & Public Service and Department of Political Science
The Bush School of Government & Public Service and the Department of Political Science offer a joint-degree program that allows political science majors to enter the Bush School at the beginning of their fourth year at Texas A&M University. This enables students to receive their political science undergraduate degree (B.A. or B.S.) and a Master of Public Service & Administration (MPSA) graduate degree 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 arts or a bachelor of science degree in political science, as well as the courses required by the College of Liberal Arts and by Texas A&M University for an undergraduate degree.
Political Science Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Science
- POLS 206 American National Government (3 hrs)
- POLS 207 State and Local Government (3 hrs)
- POLS 209 Introduction to Political Science Research (3 hrs)
- BA- Foreign Language (14 hrs) / BS- Statistics (6 hrs); Computer Language (6 hrs)
- ENG 104 Composition & Rhetoric (3 hrs)
- Communications (3 hrs)
- Literature in English (6 hrs)
- Mathematics (6 hrs)
- Humanities & Visual Performing Arts (9 hrs)
- Natural Sciences (8 hrs)
- Social & Behavioral Sciences (6 hrs)
- History (6 hrs)
- Kinesiology (2 hrs)
- Political Science Electives (12 hrs)
- BA- General Electives (20 hours) / BS- General Electives (22 hours)
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 beginning of the spring semester of year four.
Students will be required to complete the same 2-year, 48-hour curriculum as other students admitted to the Bush School's MPSA program. The curriculum combines 9 core courses in public management, policy analysis, economics and research methods with 7 electives, 2 of which may be taken in other departments at Texas A&M. 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
Political science 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 will be the same as for other MPSA 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 political science, as appropriate. Failure to complete the MPSA program will in no way impede their ability to attain a bachelor's degree in political science 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 Political Science 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 621: Economic Analysis**
- BUSH 631: Quantitative Methods I**
Spring
- BUSH 632: Quantitative Methods II**
- Track Requirement:
- PM: BUSH 634: Public Mgmt* OR
- PPA: BUSH 622: Public Finance**
- Two electives chosen in consultation with advisor**+
Summer
- Professional internship
Fifth Year
Fall
- BUSH 675: Capstone Seminar I**
- Track Requirement:
- PM: BUSH 623 Politics of Public Budgeting OR
- PPA: BUSH 615 Policy Analysis*
- Two electives chosen in consultation with advisor**+
Spring
- BUSH 676: Capstone Seminar II**
- Three electives chosen in consultation with advisor**+
* Bush School courses double-counted as POLS electives
** Bush School courses double-counted as general electives
+ Up to two of the six electives may be taken outside of the Bush School with the approval of the student's advisor
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 political science electives and some of the general electives required for the bachelor's degree.
Advising
Advising for the 5-year program is a coordinated effort by the Undergraduate Program Office in the Department of Political Science 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.
Political science students can speak to Dr. Mike Balog, political science undergraduate advisor, at gusano@politics.tamu.edu or 845-3127.
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, contact the Bush School recruitment director, Kathryn Meyer, at kmeyer@bushschool.tamu.edu or 862-3476.
