Admission & Application

1. Submit an Application for Graduate Admission to the TAMUCC Office of Admissions. Applicants with present or past work experience in the public or not-for-profit sector should submit a full employment resume.
2. Submit official bachelor's degree or highest degree earned transcript.
3. Apply to various sources for loans and grants.
4. Receive letter of admission from Admission Office.
5. Receive letter of admission from MPA Coordinator.

MPA Admission Requirements

In addition to the admission requirements outlined for graduate programs, the MPA program requires the following:

• Transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work undertaken from regionally accredited universities.
• Two letters of evaluation from individuals such as professors and employers who can attest to your potential for success in a graduate program of study. Letters of evaluation should specifically address your potential for a successful career and your motivation for graduate study.
• A personal essay. Applicants must submit a 300 - 500 word essay describing work experience, educational goals, professional goals, languages spoken and any other material that would be relevant. As part of your professional goals statement, the personal essay should also address the reasons and motivations for seeking an MPA degree.
• A full employment resume. Applicants accepted into the program must develop an initial degree plan that is approved by the MPA Coordinator. The student then will be assigned a faculty adviser.

The Admission Decision

Basing their decision on the information contained in all items listed above, the MPA committee will unconditionally admit, conditionally admit, provisionally admit or deny admission to the MPA program. Only complete applications are evaluated. For full consideration of admission and scholarships, a completed admissions packet must be received by April 15 for Fall semester admissions; by October 15 for Spring admissions. For unconditional admission, applicants must be a graduate of a regionally accredited university or, if an international student, have the equivalent of a U.S. accredited degree as determined by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Applicants must have an overall grade point average (GPA) of no less than 3.0 on 4-point scale. Applicants with less than a 3.0 GPA may be conditionally admitted to the program if the graduate admissions committee determines that the student's GRE combined verbal and quantitative scores and other application materials compensate for the deficient GPA. Applicants may be provisionally admitted if they lack certain admissions requirements, primarily the GRE.

Conditional Admission
Applicants who lack certain requirements for unconditional admission may be accepted in the conditional admission category. Those approved for conditional admission are required, during their first nine semester hours of work toward the degree, to earn a B or better in PADM 5301; PADM 5302; and PADM 5311 (see Course Descriptions). To earn unconditional admission in the MPA program, the student must earn a grade of at least "B" in each of the three courses without earning a grade of "C" or lower. Failure to attain a grade of B or higher in each of these courses, or failure to successfully complete all program basic proficiency requirements, will result in enforced withdrawal from the program. In special circumstances, the Admissions Subcommittee may also make conditional admission contingent on other additional requirements as it sees fit. Any additional requirements will be specified in writing to the student.

Non-Degree Seeking
This category includes students who may enroll in graduate coursework to meet personal or career goals. For the MPA program, students in this category will be restricted to enrolling only in the MPA core courses.

Degree Plan

To complete the admissions process the student should, during the first semester after qualifying for acceptance into the MPA program, develop a degree plan for approval by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The degree plan should be prepared in consultation with the student's adviser and indicate the course work required for conferral of the MPA degree, including any basic proficiencies (see below) and internship hours where appropriate.