*Information here is for those admitted prior to 2019. For those admitted in 2019, please click here.
USC offers a rigorous dual degree program in which students may earn the USC Price MPA and the USC Gould School of Law J.D. degrees in approximately four years.
The program encourages law students to build interrelated professional competencies in administration across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Those enrolled take law courses exclusively during their first year and a combination of public administration and law courses during the following three years.
Students may not first enroll in the MPA and then apply to the MPA/JD.
Requirements
To earn the dual degree, students must complete 97 units of coursework, including 65 units of Gould Law courses and 32 units of Price Public Administration courses.
Public Administration
Student take one course from the following:
In addition, students complete 6 units of electives.
* The Statistics prerequisite must be satisfied before enrolling in PPD 541, 542, 557 or 666.
The Master of Public Administration/Master of Arts in Jewish Nonprofit Management (MPA/MA) has been developed in partnership with Hebrew Union College to prepare students for careers related to the support of Jewish communities and organizations, as well as the decision-making processes in urban communities at large.
Students receive solid academic and experiential foundations in the American Jewish experience—its history, culture and ways of getting things done—combined with the theory and practice of community organization and administration.
Requirements
Students must complete 88 units of coursework, 36 units in public administration and 52 units from the Hebrew Union College. The students must also complete 24 months in supervised fieldwork.
Public Administration
Students take 8 elective units, including two from the following list, and an additional 6 units of elective classes offered within the Price School:
(*Recommendation preparation for PPD 675: PPD 689.)
The USC Price MPL/MPA dual degree highlights the intersections of urban planning and public administration. Students can expect to graduate with requisite administrative, budgeting and fiscal analysis skills, knowledge of operations and services of local governments, and the ability to conduct planning operations within a municipal management context. It affords graduates versatility to have a broad scope of influence on the future of their communities. This dual degree program normally requires five semesters in residence.
Prerequisites
Students must have completed 12 undergraduate course credit units of social science, with no more than 8 units in any one field. Students must also satisfy the Master of Public Administration statistics prerequisite and other prerequisites. PPD 525 satisfies the Price School of Public Policy prerequisite in descriptive and inferential statistics for dual degree students. Dual degree students completing PPD 525 with a grade of B or higher need not to take PPD 502x Statistical Foundations for Public Management and Policy.
Requirements
Students must complete 60 units, including 26 units in public administration, 20 units in planning and 14 units of PPD electives (eight in planning).
Public Administration
Students select one of the following:
Urban and Regional Planning
Planning Studios
Students take PPD 531L (4, 4) to total 8 units.
Electives
Students take 14 units of elective courses within the USC Price School. Eight of these elective units must be taken in the planning program to fulfill the selected concentration gateway and methodology course requirements. Dual degree students who complete 502x with a grade of B or higher need not take PPD 525. Instead, students who have completed 502x should take additional elective courses within Policy, Planning, and Development for a total of 16 elective units.
A unique multinational graduate program, students gain perspective in public administration challenges that transcend national boundaries. While studying in two of the world’s most vibrant cities, students develop skills and expertise that will afford them advantages in a profession that is becoming increasingly global. The MPA program is designed and offered in partnership with Seoul National University (SNU). Students spend a year at USC Price and a year at SNU, completing courses taught by outstanding faculty at both insitutions.
Students who wish to pursue the dual MPA degree will have to apply to both SNU GSPA and USC Price separately, and they must fulfill both institutions’ admission criteria independently.
YEAR ONE – USC (24 units) | UNITS | |
PPD 500 | Intersectoral Leadership | 2 |
PPD 501ab | Economics for Policy, Planning and Development, or | 2-2 |
PPD 540 | Public Administration and Society | 4 |
PPD 541 | Public Financial Management | 4 |
PPD 542 | Policy and Program Evaluation | 4 |
PPD 545 | Human Behavior in Public Organizations | 4 |
Electives | 6 |
YEAR TWO – SNU (19 units) | UNITS | |
*M2856.000100 | Theories of Global Public Administration, or | 3 |
M2856.000600 | Economics and Public Administration | |
Electives | 12 | |
**PPD 546 | Capstone in Public Administration | 4 |
* Price students would take either PPD 540 or PPD 501ab in their first year, and then would take the equivalent SNU GSPA course for the other one in their second year.
** The capstone course is taken in the last semester at Price.
YEAR ONE – SNU (18 units) | UNITS | |
M2856.000100 | Theories of Global Public Administration | 3 |
M2856.000300 | Social Research Methods of Public Administration | 3 |
Electives | 6 | |
Independent study | (Thesis preparation) | 6 |
YEAR TWO – USC (24 units) | UNITS | |
PPD 500 | Intersectoral Leadership | 2 |
PPD 501ab | Economics for Policy, Planning, and Development | 2-2 |
PPD 541 | Public Financial Management | 4 |
PPD 545 | Human Behavior in Public Organizations | 4 |
Electives | 10 |
Price students could take both the PPD 540 and PPD 501ab courses in either their first year or their second year, instead of one of the two in each year.
GSPA students could take Economics and Public Administration in their first year rather than in their second year at Price, and they could take PPD 540 in their second year at Price rather than in their first year.
Price students could take Social Research Methods of Public Administration at GSPA in their second year instead of Policy and Program Evaluation (PPD 542) in their first year, and GSPA students could take Policy and Program Evaluation (PPD 542) at Price in their second year instead of Social Research Methods of Public Administration in their first year.
The USC dual degree in social work and public administration offers a distinctive opportunity for students to earn advanced credentials through two of the university’s most celebrated professional degree programs: the USC Price Master of Public Administration and the USC Master of Social Work (MPA/MSW). Designed for students who will pursue careers in leadership and administration of social agencies across sectors, the dual degree program requires two calendar years of full-time study. The first year is devoted to the standard social work first-year master’s curriculum. During the second year, students will take courses in both social work and public administration. The curriculum for both summers will be in public administration.
Requirements
Students must complete 82 units including:
Policy, Planning, and Development
Electives in public administration must be approved by the graduate advisor in USC Price.
Social Work (54 units)
*Students who have taken a leadership course in PPD are not required to take SOWK 611.