Mission

The Bachelor of Public Administration Degree is offered through the Political Science Department. The mission of this program is to prepare exceptionally versatile leaders in public service whose aspirations are rooted in the advancement of the public good, sustainability, and equity. Students will have the capacity to solve their community’s biggest challenges using a foundation of critical thinking skills across political, social, economic, legal, and analytical spectrums.  

The Political Science Department and the Family and Human Services Department also jointly offer a Certificate of Nonprofit Management.

Student Learning Outcomes

Public Administration students at Washburn University, upon graduation, are expected to have acquired foundational knowledge and skills in the following subfields driving public decision-making processes:

• Data visualization and analyzing
• Communication and engagement with community members, elected officials, and other stakeholders
• Leadership and management
• Political, economic, organization, and urban/regional planning theory.
• Ethical and legal practices to enhance community service delivery.
• Consideration of equity, sustainability, efficiency, effectiveness, and economy for agency outcomes.
• Program and policy development/evaluation
• Human resource development
• Budgeting and funding

Degrees and Certificates

The Bachelor of Public Administration (BPA) degree leads to employment in national, state or local governments, non-profit agencies, or certain aspects of business relating to human resources management, government relations or government regulations. The BPA degree requires 40 political science, public administration, and inter-disciplinary credit hours as described below including an internship/work requirement  in a public service capacity. An inter-disciplinary concentration in management analyst, sustainable communities, or non-profit management certificate is required unless substituted with another department’s major/minor as approved by the advisor.

Degree Requirements

In addition to the requirements stated below, students must complete 34-35 hours of General Education, all requirements for a Bachelor of Public Administration degree, and any additional hours needed to reach the minimum 120 credit hours required for graduation.  Some of the courses below may also fulfill general education or other degree requirements.  Please see your advisor for more information.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses Inside Department
PO 107	Kansas, State, and Local Government	3
PO 245	Introduction to Public Administration	3
PO 305	Public Policy	3
PO 306	American Urban and Metropolitan Planning	3
PO 393	Managing Public Money	3
PO 401	Equity and Hard Choices in Public Administration	3
PO 307	Internship	3
or PO 309	Kansas Legislative Experience
PO 450	Seminar in Political Science and Public Administration	1
Subtotal		22
Department Electives (Minimum of 6 credits not in Concentration)
PO 255	Introduction to the American Legal System
PO 300	Special Topics/Political Science
PO 307	Internship
PO 308	American Elections and Federalism
PO 343	Administrative Law
PO 346	Problems in Public Administration
PO 371	Topics: American Politics and Government
PO 374	Topics: Public Administration 1
PO 386	Independent Study
PO 390	Applied Political Research
PO 391	Managing People in Public Organizations
PO 394	Challenges Managing Public Organizations
PO 395	Non-Profit Management and Leadership
Subtotal		6
Concentration (Select One of Three Options, 12 credits minimum)
Management Analyst (maximum 6 PO credits)
Sustainable Communities (maximum 6 PO credits)
Other Department Major / Minor (12-18 credit hours) 2
Subtotal		12
Total Hours		40

¹

Topics may include non-profit, planning, legal, management, etc.

²

With advisor approval.

Management Analyst

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
PO 391	Managing People in Public Organizations	3
BU 258	Foundations of Data Analysis	3
Elective Courses
BU 346	Organizational Behavior	3
CN 150	Public Speaking	3
CN 3XX	Communication Upper Division	3
EC 200	Principles of Microeconomics	3
EC 201	Principles of Macroeconomics	3
EC 211	Statistics for Business and Economics	3
EC 480	Public Finance	3
EN 208	Professional Writing	3
HS 495	Research and Evaluation	3
LE 200	Ethical Responsibilities of Leadership	3
PO 390	Applied Political Research	3
PO 394	Challenges Managing Public Organizations	3
PO 395	Non-Profit Management and Leadership	3

Sustainable Communities

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
PO 374	Topics: Public Administration 1	3
CE 250	Introduction to Community Studies	3
Elective Courses
AN 112	Cultural Anthropology	3
BI 203	Human Impact on the Environment	3
CJ 303	Diversity in American Culture	3
CN 150	Public Speaking	3
CN 3XX	Communication Upper Division	3
EN 208	Professional Writing	3
HI 3XX	History Upper Division	3
LE 200	Ethical Responsibilities of Leadership	3
PY 311	Multicultural Psychology	3
SO 3XX	Sociology Upper Division	3
SW 250	Diversity and Social Justice in Social Work	3

¹

Topics include practices in equitable and sustainable city planning, etc.