Apr 23, 2024

2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog

2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [Archived Catalog]

Public Affairs BSPA

Program: Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs
Department of Criminal Justice and Public Administration
College of Professional Studies

Neff Hall 260 Ph: 260-481-6351

The BSPA (Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs) degree program provides a focus on public affairs with a background in the liberal arts. This degree offers a major in Public Administration and Policy with a concentration in Criminal Justice Policy. Internships are strongly encouraged as they provide qualified students with the opportunity to apply classroom theory and techniques to real-life experiences. The internship program is designed for maximum flexibility; internships can be full or part time, paid or unpaid, credit or noncredit.

The Public Administration and Policy curriculum is divided into five categories - Purdue General Education area, Public Policy general knowledge area, Public Policy core, the concentration area, and general electives. No more than 60 credits may be transferred from a junior college. Public Policy requires that 15 hours of course work in the major at the 300 or higher level be completed at Purdue (excluding PPOL 37101). A maximum of 10 credits may be applied from military transfer experience, and a maximum of 12 credits may be awarded for police academy training completed within the past year. Up to 6 credits in Public Affairs Courses (excluding PPOL 37200 and PPOL 37601) may be used in order to meet specific Public Affairs degree requirements in a second Public Affairs concentration or minor. However, Public Affairs courses may be double-counted to satisfy the Purdue University Fort Wayne general-education distribution. Additional public policy courses may be used to satisfy general elective requirements.

The student learning outcomes for the degree are as follows:

Students should be able to:

Understand the importance of ideas and theory in the formulation and implementation of public policy.
Understand the importance of politics in all substantive public policy areas.
Appropriately utilize quantitative approaches for dealing with management and public policy challenges.
Understand the origins, processes, and impact of law in the creation and implementation of public policy.

Declaring this Major:

To declare a major in Public Administration and Policy, students must meet with the Public Policy Coordinator of Advising and Student Services to determine eligibility.

General Requirements:

To earn the Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs at Purdue, students must fulfill the requirements of Purdue (see Regulations, Policies, Rights, & Responsibilities) and the Department of Public Policy, and complete the following course requirements:

Program Requirements:

Public Affairs BSPA - Criminal Justice 4-Year Plan:

I. General Education Requirements Credits: 33

The identified General Education courses below are program requirements that fulfill the General Education requirements as well.

See Part 2 General Education Requirements for approved courses

A grade of C- or better is required in each course used to satisfy the Purdue Fort Wayne General Education requirements.

Category A: Foundational Intellectual Skills

1. Written Communication Credits: 3

ENGL 13100 - Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I Cr. 3.

2. Speaking and Listening Credits: 3

COM 11400 - Fundamentals Of Speech Communication Cr. 3.

3. Quantitative Reasoning Credits: 3

Or higher level A3 Mathematics course

or higher level A3 Mathematics course

Category B: Ways of Knowing

4. Scientific Ways of Knowing Credits: 6

5. Social and Behavioral Ways of Knowing Credits: 6

PPOL 17000 - Introduction to Public Affairs Cr. 3.
This course meets the B.5 Social and Behavioral Ways of Knowing requirements and is counted as three of the six hours required by Public Policy for the B.5 category.

6. Humanistic and Artistic Ways of Knowing Credits: 6

Courses must be in addition to HIST 10501 and 10601, which fulfill requirements under Public Policy Supporting Courses.

7. Interdisciplinary or Creative Ways of Knowing Credits: 3

PPOL 16200 - Environment and People Cr. 3.
This course meets the B.7 Interdisciplinary Ways of Knowing requirements and is counted by Public Policy for completion of the B.7 category and as one of the Public Policy Core classes.

Category C: Capstone Course Credits: Credits from major course

8. Capstone Experience

The identified Capstone courses below are specific to the concentration.

Note: See (III. Concentration Credits) section.

PPOL 32000 - Health Systems Administration Cr. 3.
PPOL 43900 - Crime and Public Policy Cr. 3.
PPOL 45600 - Topics in Public Law Cr. 3.

II. Public Policy Supporting Courses: Credits: 24

A. Communication Credits: 3

One of the following:

ENGL 23202 - Introduction to Business Writing Cr. 3.
ENGL 23301 - Intermediate Expository Writing Cr. 3.
Or substitution approved by advisor Cr.3.

B. Quantitative Methods Credits: 3

PPOL 30000 is the preferred statistics course for Public Affairs students.
PPOL 30000 - Statistical Techniques Cr. 3.
SOC 35100 - Social Statistics Cr. 3.
STAT 30100 - Elementary Statistical Methods I Cr. 3.
ECON 27000 - Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business I Cr. 3.
PSY 20100 - Introduction to Statistics in Psychology Cr. 3.

C. Scientific Ways of Knowing Credits: 3

Any additional B.4 Science Course

D. Arts & Humanities Requirements Credits: 6

HIST 10501 - American History I Cr. 3.
HIST 10601 - American History II Cr. 3.

E. Social and Behavioral Sciences Requirements Credits: 9

ECON 20101 - Introduction to Microeconomics Cr. 3. A grade of C- is required to advance to ECON 20201.
ECON 20201 - Introduction to Macroeconomics Cr. 3.
PPOL 37101 - Financing Public Affairs Cr. 3. Prerequisites of PPOL 17000, ECON 20101 and ECON 20201. Completion of Statistics is recommended.

III. Public Affairs Core Credits: 6

A grade of C- or better is required in each of these courses.

PPOL 10100 - The American Criminal Justice System Cr. 3.
PPOL 12000 - Contemporary Health Issues Cr. 1-3.
PPOL 16200 - Environment and People Cr. 3.
PPOL 17000 - Introduction to Public Affairs Cr. 3.

IV. Concentration Credits: 27- 30

Criminal Justice Policy concentration: 30 credits

The Criminal Justice Policy concentration in the Criminal Justice major requires 30 credit hours for completion (students are required to have a minimum of 120 credit hours with a 2.00 cumulative grade point average and a 2.30 grade point average in core and major area courses in order to receive the Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs degree). Public Policy [PPOL] 10100 is the pre-requisite course for the Criminal Justice major courses.

PPOL 20100 - Theoretical Foundations of Criminal Justice Policies Cr. 3.
PPOL 20200 - Criminal Justice Data, Methods, and Resources Cr. 3.
PPOL 30100 - Substantive Criminal Law Cr. 3.
PPOL 32100 - American Policing Cr. 3.
PPOL 33100 - Corrections Cr. 3.
PPOL 37200 - Government Finance and Budgets Cr. 3.
PPOL 37601 - Law and Public Policy Cr. 3.
PPOL 43900 (Category C Capstone course for Criminal Justice)

Additional 6 credits of PPOL electives approved by advisor

Two additional PPOL courses, one of which can be PPOL 38001-Internship in Public Affairs

PPOL 37101 may not be used to meet this requirement

V. General Electives Credits: 30-33

The total number of electives is dependent on the area of concentration.

Additional courses of interest or minors should be selected in consultation with an advisor. Consult Program Descriptions section of the university catalog for a complete interactive list of minors and/or certificate programs.

Total Credits: 120

Student Responsibility

Student Responsibilities: You are responsible for satisfying the graduation requirements specified for your selected program. Thus, it is essential that you develop a thorough understanding of the required courses, academic policies, and procedures governing your academic career. All requests for exceptions to specific requirements must be made in writing and may be granted only by written approval from the appropriate chair or dean.

Print this Page