Indiana University
Master of Public Management (M.P.M.)
Department of Public Policy
Dr. Brian L. Fife, Director of Graduate Studies
fifeb@ipfw.edu www.ipfw.edu/public-policy Neff Hall 260
The Master of Public Management (M.P.M.) is an interdisciplinary professional program structured around concepts and skills essential to management, policy, and planning activities within governmental, quasi-governmental, and nonprofit organizations. The M.P.M. is a 39 credit hour program made up of a core and two concentration options. The core is comprised of seven courses (21 credit hours) designed to provide foundation-level knowledge that is applicable to general public management and the groundwork for the concentrations. The two concentrations (health systems administration and policy and public administration and policy) are 12 credit hours. Students focus on an area of concentration that best reflects their career goals and plans. Students must also complete a 3 credit hour practicum in public affairs. Students with at least one year of full-time management and/or policy experience can apply for an award of 3 credit hours to take the place of this practicum. The remaining 3 credits are to be fulfilled by one elective course approved by the director of graduate studies. The course of study requires completion of: (1) the M.P.M. core; (2) the concentration requirement; (3) the experiential requirement; and (4) 3 elective credits to total 39 credit hours.
The curriculum of this program, as contained in the core requirements, encompasses a range of skills relevant to managing public agencies. It is based on several academic disciplines but not limited to anyone. It is also problem-oriented, bringing multidisciplinary approaches to bear on social, economic, and management issues.
Because public service and management are diverse and changing, effective managers should develop a special set of skills attained through detailed study in a chosen area of concentration. These concentrations span a variety of public management areas. Thus the program provides students with knowledge and skills in the core requirement areas and the concentration areas, as well as a general working knowledge of management.
Admission to the Public Policy (PPOL) Graduate Program
Regular admission to the M.P.M. program requires a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better. Any major is acceptable. An application must include official transcripts of all college and university work, references from three people familiar with the student’s academic or professional abilities or potential, and a nonrefundable university application fee.
Provisional admission may be granted if a student is nearing completion of an undergraduate degree or if an applicant does not meet some criteria for regular admission.
Non-degree admission may be granted to visiting students who wish to take classes for one semester without being formally admitted to the M.P.M. program.
Accelerated Master’s Program (AMP)
Undergraduate IPFW Public Policy students with a GPA of 3.5 or above may apply for admission to the AMP program as early as their junior year. If admitted, they are eligible to apply up to 18 approved graduate credits to the M.P.M. that have been earned toward the undergraduate degree during their senior year.
General education and core requirements and a minimum of 96 credit hours must be completed toward the bachelor’s degree prior to starting the program.
Transfer Credit
With the approval of the director of graduate studies, students may transfer up to 9 graduate credit hours of appropriate course work with grades of B or better earned at other accredited institutions. No more than 12 graduate credits completed as a non-degree student will be counted toward the M.P.M.
Experiential Option
The experiential option of the M.P.M. program recognizes the professional capabilities of those with experience in the public or private sector. The student’s experience does not necessarily have to be with a public agency, as management-level experience in the private sector is generally applicable to the public sector.
Experiential option credit is granted based on experience gained until the end of the semester in which the student completes 18 credit hours. A maximum of 3 credit hours may be granted to students under the experiential option. To receive 3 credit hours, a student must have a minimum of one year’s technical administrative or policy work experience with a government or private agency.
Experiential Option Application Process and Policies
- Students are eligible to apply for experiential option credit only after they have been admitted to the M.P.M. program. Once accepted into the program, they can apply for experiential option credit at any point in their degree program, up to the semester in which they complete 18 credit hours.
- Determination of experiential option credit is made separately from decisions about transfer of credit.
- Students receiving experiential option credit should plan the rest of their program carefully in consultation with the director of graduate studies.
Internships and Field Experiences
Students must complete an approved internship (PPOL V585) or be awarded experiential option credit to earn the M.P.M.
Academic Probation
Students are placed on probation and are so notified by the registrar whenever their cumulative GPA is less than 3.0. Unless they bring their GPA up to 3.0 during the next semester of enrollment, they will not ordinarily be allowed to continue as an IU degree candidate. Only courses with grades of C (2.0) or better are counted for degree requirements; however, grades below C are used in computing the cumulative GPA, even if a course is repeated and a higher grade is earned.
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