The Dual MPA/MSW Degree

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Social Work (MSW) programs are both housed within the College of Community and Public Affairs and both are considered professional terminal degrees. The MPA program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) and the MSW program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. By carefully structuring the sequence of courses, recognizing comparable course offerings, and using courses in one program to count as electives in the other, the MPA-MSW dual degree program will allow students to complete both degrees in three years of full-time study, without compromising the professional standards of either program. The 42-credit hour MPA program and the 64-credit hour MSW program can be completed as part of a 93 dual degree program (rather than 106 credit hours required to complete the two programs without the benefit of the dual degree structure).

The dual MPA-MSW will prepare students for administrative positions in social service agencies. Increasingly, social workers must possess management and administrative skills to be competent in addressing the challenges of their positions as supervisors, administrators, and agency heads. Similarly, public administration practitioners recognize the need for specialized knowledge and skills to respond to an environment of increasing policy and organizational complexity within social welfare agencies. The program is designed to ensure that students acquire both management and social work skills necessary to excel in this environment.

Students must apply and be admitted to both the MPA program and the MSW program. These are separate applications and each requires an application fee to the Graduate School. The typical course sequence for students who begin both programs in the same semester is provided below. Students who begin one program and then apply to the other program later will need to meet with the Directors of Graduate Studies for both programs to develop a customized program of study; completion within three years may not be possible for students who do not begin the programs in the same semester.