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College of Liberal Arts

Requirements for Major

The curriculum for a major in Public Administration has been designed by the faculty to prepare graduates for careers in public service or for graduate work in a Master of Public Administration Program, such as the one at Auburn University. We have designed a program that provides students with a general Public Administration background while also offering some flexibility in course work.

Supporting Coursework (8 hours)

In addition to fulfilling the major requirements in public administration, four areas of supporting coursework are required. We recommend that each student complete these as early as possible.

  • Public Speaking - COMM 1000 or COMM 3110
  • Computer Basics - COMP 1000
  • Quantitative Methods - POLI 3000, STAT 2010, or STAT 2610
  • Economics - POLI 1020 (or 1027) or ECON 2020 (or 2027)  -- University Core

Major Requirements (36-39 hours)

The public administration major provides students with a general background in public administration. It also allows each student some choices within a framework of important areas in public administration. The following seven classes are required for each major.

  • POLI 1090 (or 1097) American Government
  • POLI 2100 - State & Local Government
  • POLI 3250 - Introduction to Public Administration
  • POLI 3260 - Organization Theory
  • POLI 3270 - Policy Process
  • POLI 4140 - Public Finance
  • POLI 4160 - Public Personnel Administration

Additional Coursework

The remaining 15-18 hours are selected from coursework in the following areas:

  1. One (1) course in Administrative Responsibility
  • POLI 3330 Administrative Responsibility
  • PHIL 1020 Introduction to Ethics
  • PHIL 1030 Health Ethics
  • PHIL 1040 Business Ethics
  1. One (1) course in Cultural Diversity
  • AFRI 2000 Intro to Africana Studies
  • POLI 4610 Women in Politics
  • POLI 4620 African American Politics
  • SOCY 3500 Minority Groups
  • WMST 2100 Intro to Women’s Studies
  1. One (1) course in Conflict Resolution
  • POLI 3340 Introduction to Conflict Resolution
  • POLI 4340 Theory and Practice of Mediation
  • COMM 2400 Communication in Organizations
  1. One (1) course in Public Law
  • POLI 3300 Law and Society
  • POLI 4010 Constitutional Law: Government Powers
  • POLI 4020 Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties
  • POLI 4030 Constitutional Law: Civil Rights
  • POLI 5180 Administrative Law
  1. Two (2) courses in Government and Administration
  • POLI 4050 American Local Government
  • POLI 4090 Urban Administration
  • POLI 4130 Politics of the Administrative Process
  • POLI 4380 Public-Private Management
  • POLI 5370 Non-Profit Management
  • POLI 5970-005 Special Topics in Public Administration
  • POLI 5970-006 Special Topics in Public Policy

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Last updated July 1, 2007