The Bush School of Government & Public Service and the Department of Economics offer a 5-year (3+2) degree program that allows economics majors to enter the Bush School at the start of their senior year at Texas A&M University. This enables students to receive both their economics undergraduate degree and a Master of Public Service and Administration graduate degree, with a track emphasis in public policy analysis (PPA), in five years.
Description | Core Required | MPSA Required | Admissions | Curriculum | Advising
Description
To be considered for the 5-year degree program, economics students must have a minimum 3.25 GPA and have completed 102 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 BS/BA 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
Texas A&M Core = 60 hours
- ENGL 104 (3 hrs)
- Speech & Writing (3 hrs)
- ENGL Literature (6 hrs)
- US HIST (6 hrs)
- POLS 206 and POLS 207 (6 hrs)
- Social Sciences (6 hrs)
- Creative Arts (3 hrs)
- Language, Philosophy, & Culture (3 hrs)
- Creative Arts/Lang, Phil, & Culture (3 hrs)
- Life and Physical Science (9 hrs)
- MATH 140 or 152 (3 hrs)
- MATH 142 or 151 (3 hrs)
- ECMT 461 (3 hrs)
- ACCT 209 (3 hrs)
- International & Cultural Diversity (6 hrs) – may be used to satisfy any other requirement
Major Area = 33 hours
- ECON 202, 203, 323, 410 (12 hrs)
- ECON Electives (12 hrs)*
B.S. Requirements = 27 hours
- ACCT 210 (3 hrs)
- ECMT 463 (3 hrs)
- General Electives (21 hrs)*
- Core Foreign Language – 2 years of same language in high school or 2 semester sequence
BA Requirements = 27 hours
- Modern Language 100 & 200 courses (14 hrs)
- General Electives (13 hrs)*
Bush School’s MPSA First Year = 18 of 24 hours can double count for ECON undergrad credit
- Major Area/ECON Electives: potential 9 hrs can count
- BUSH 631 (3 hrs)
- BUSH 632 or 635 (3 hrs)
- PSAA 621 or ECON 607 (3 hrs)
- General Electives: potential 9 hrs can count
- Any approved PSAA course, including 601, 611, 622, and/or 643 and others (up to 9 hrs)
*9 hours can double count from Bush School courses
MPSA Degree Requirements
Admitted students will be enrolled in Bush School graduate courses with an undergraduate classification (U4) during their fourth year and will be re-classified as degree-seeking master’s students (G7) prior to the start of the fall semester of year five.
Five-year students are required to complete the same 2-year, 48-hour curriculum as other MPSA students. The curriculum combines ten core courses with six electives. Students choose the Public Policy Analysis (PPA) track and are encouraged to select from one of our options or create their own area of interest. A non-credit bearing professional internship is also completed in the summer between the first and second years for those without substantive professional experience. A capstone project for a “real world” client in the final two semesters caps the learning experience.
Admissions
Economics majors who have at least a 3.25 GPA and who will have taken all of their prerequisite courses and otherwise completed 102 hours by the fall of their fourth year (meaning you have the summer before entry to complete any required hours) will be eligible to apply for the 3+2 program in their junior year. Admission criteria for the 3+2 program will be the same as for other students. Applicants will submit the same support materials, with the exception of an internal 3+2 application found on the Bush School website (this is in place of the GradCAS application and portal, so no app fee is charged). Detailed app instructions are online.
Students who choose not to finish the MPSA degree after starting the 3+2 program may exit the program at any time. Completed Bush School courses will be applied to their bachelor’s degree in economics, as appropriate. Failure to complete the MPSA program will in no way impede a student’s ability to attain a bachelor’s degree when the requirements for that degree are completed.
Those who pursue the 3+2 program will receive both Texas A&M degrees upon completion of the entire program, earning a B.A./B.S. in Economics and a Master of Public Service and Administration at the end of their second year in the Bush School. Although they earn both, students will only walk for their MPSA graduation.
Curriculum
Fourth Year
Fall
- PSAA 601: Foundations of Public Service **
- PSAA 621: Economic Analysis* or ECON 607: Microeconomic Theory*
- BUSH 631: Quantitative Methods I *
- PSAA 643: Foundations of Nonprofit Sector **
Spring
- PSAA 611: Public Policy Formation **
- BUSH 632 or 635: Quant Methods II * (PPA required)
- PSAA 622: Public Finance ** (PPA required)
- One approved PSAA elective **
Summer
- Professional internship
Fifth Year
Fall
- PSAA 675: Capstone Seminar I
- PSAA 615: Policy Analysis (PPA required)
- Two approved electives
Spring
- PSAA 676: Capstone Seminar II
- Three approved electives
* can double-count as ECON major area elective
** can double-count as General electives
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 major and general electives required for the bachelor’s degree.
Advising
Advising for the 3+2 program is coordinated by the Economics Dept. for undergrad and the Bush School for grad courses. Departmental advising helps ensure that interested students have satisfied the prerequisite course requirements for the bachelor’s degree and have set aside relevant ECON courses by the start of their senior year.
Economics advisors:
Vince Hernandez, Rochelle Read, or Michael Werner
You may also contact the Bush School for admissions information and curriculum advising.
Kathryn or Ashlee, Admissions, bushschooladmissions@tamu.edu, 862-3476 for overview
PSAA Contact Information, 458-8027 for degree-level follow-up
