MPA-MS Nursing Dual-Degree Program

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) housed in the College of Community and Public Affairs and Master of Science in Nursing (MS Nursing) housed in the Decker School of Nursing offer a dual MPA-MS Nursing degree program to provide students at Binghamton University with a unique opportunity. 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-MS Nursing dual degree program allows students to complete both degrees in three years of full-time study, without compromising the professional standards of either program.

The MPA-MS Nursing Dual Degree Program prepares students for nursing administrator positions in hospitals, health care facilities and community health agencies. Nurses who advance to administrative positions often find themselves struggling with their new responsibilities related to budgetary, human resources, organizational, policy and management matters. The dual-degree program is designed to ensure that students not only advance their professional nursing credentials, but also develop knowledge and skills for effective management. The dual-degree program takes advantage of the complementary foci of the two degree programs. Both programs have a clear commitment to preparing students to help their communities through advanced professional knowledge and skills. Accordingly, the dual degree emphasizes community health and professional management to prepare nurses to be effective administrators. The dual degree is targeted specifically to students in the Community Health Nursing program who have selected the Nurse Administrator role.

Students in the dual MPA-MS Nursing program are able to complete the two degrees in 68 credit-hours as opposed to the 90 credit-hours required if the two degrees are completed individually (42 for the MPA plus 48 for the MS Nursing). The table below presents the typical course sequence for the three options (MPA only, MS only and dual degree) side-by-side. The sequencing of courses detailed below reflects the typical schedule for a full-time student admitted to both programs at the beginning of their graduate studies. Students who have completed up to one year in either the MPA or MS Nursing program before selecting the dual-degree program will be treated on a case-by-case basis and may not be able to complete the sequence in three years. Part-time study is also an option with a schedule developed on an individual basis in consultation with the Directors of Graduate Studies of both programs.

Dual-degree students must meet the admission criteria of each program and be accepted to both programs. The Graduate School requires a separate application fee for each program. Students interested in the dual degree should apply to both programs at the same time.

MPA-MS Nursing Dual Degree Course Sequencing