One of the enduring grand challenges is how to collectively, creatively, and democratically respond to key challenges facing our communities, nation, and the world. Among these challenges are environmental change, including an increased incidence and intensity of disasters such as flooding, sea level rise, and wildfires attributable to climate change; health care; an aging population; addiction; inadequate infrastructure; inequality; unaffordable housing; racism; transportation; immigration; economic development; and public safety.
In response, the Master of Public Affairs program trains future leaders to systematically and creatively address these and other challenges in the coming years. With its interdisciplinary public affairs infrastructure—representing colleges, departments, and centers across campus—the University of Iowa is a leader in public affairs locally and nationally. The program educates public affairs leaders who will creatively and knowledgeably address society’s most critical issues and contribute to addressing the grand challenges of the 21st century.
Learning Outcomes
Ability To Lead and Manage in Public Governance
- Understand public administration and management theories and practices.
- Apply public administration and management theories and practices to achieve the goals of public and nonprofit organizations.
- Understand budgeting, financing, and human resource management in public and nonprofit organizations.
- Develop leadership and team-building skills.
Ability To Participate In and Contribute to the Public Policy Process
- Understand the policymaking process in the institutional and market context.
- Identify key stakeholders in the policy process and understand their interactions with the public policy process.
- Conduct policy analysis and make policy recommendations.
Ability To Analyze, Synthesize, Think Critically, Solve Problems, and Make Evidence-Informed Decisions in a Complex and Dynamic Environment
- Properly frame policy problems, policy goals, and policy alternatives.
- Collect, analyze, and report data, and apply economic, statistical, and spatial analysis methods in data analysis.
- Synthesize quantitative and qualitative evidence to inform policymaking.
Ability To Articulate and Apply a Public Service Perspective
- Recognize competing values in public interest and engage the general public in decision-making.
- Understand the importance of accountability in public administration.
- Apply professional codes of ethics in policy analysis, policymaking, and administering policy.
Ability To Communicate and Interact Productively With a Diverse and Changing Workforce and Society at Large
- Understand the changing demographics and values of society and the implications of these changes for public service and public policymaking.
- Value and identify ways to engage and represent the public in the public sector.
- Develop oral, writing, and media skills for effective communication with diverse stakeholders.
Ability To Pursue Sustainable Outcomes Through Public Policy, Public Administration, and Public Management (Program-Specific Competency)
- Understand complex interactions between public, private, and nonprofit organizations and the role of these organizations within human and natural systems.
- Articulate and apply a sustainability perspective (the implementation of policies, processes, and practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs) to public administration, management, and policy.
- Analyze real-world problems through multidisciplinary perspectives and work collaboratively to solve problems.
The graduate Master of Public Affairs (MPAff) requires a minimum of 42 s.h. of credit. Students must earn a grade of B-minus or higher in all core and concentration area courses and must maintain a Graduate College program grade-point average of at least 3.00.
The required curriculum includes eight core courses, electives (including those taken within a concentration area), a year-long capstone project, and an internship. Courses are offered by the School of Planning and Public Affairs (Graduate College), the departments of Management and Entrepreneurship (Tippie College of Business), Civil and Environmental Engineering (College of Engineering), Educational Policy and Leadership Studies (College of Education), Political Science, Sociology and Criminology, the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, the MA in strategic communication program in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), the College of Public Health, and the Larned A. Waterman Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center (College of Law).
The Master of Public Affairs requires the following coursework.
Requirements Summary
Requirements |
Hours |
Core Courses |
19 |
Concentration Area |
9 |
Capstone |
5 |
Electives |
9 |
Core Courses
Students must earn a grade of B-minus or higher in all core courses except PBAF:6208.
Course List
Course # |
Title |
Hours |
| |
PBAF:5117 | Bureaucratic Politics and Public Administration | 3 |
PBAF:5120 | Public Policy Process | 3 |
PBAF:6200 | Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Policy | 3 |
PBAF:6205 | Economics for Policy Analysis | 3 |
PBAF:6208 | Program Seminar | 1 |
PBAF:6225 | Applied GIS for Planning and Policy Making | 3 |
PBAF:6233 | Public Finance and Budgeting | 3 |
Concentration Area
Students complete 9 s.h. in one of two concentration areas: public and nonprofit management or public policy. 6 s.h. must be in planning and public affairs (prefix PBAF) or urban and regional planning (prefix URP) courses numbered 5000 or above. Students further develop competencies in the concentration area by applying the concepts and skills gained in core coursework. All concentration area coursework requires a grade of B-minus or above.
Public and Nonprofit Management
Course List
Course # |
Title |
Hours |
| |
PBAF:6240 | Public Management: State and Local Perspectives | 3 |
| |
JMC:5220 | Foundations of Strategic Communication | 3 |
JMC:5225 | Digital Strategic Communication | 3 |
JMC:5236 | Topics in Strategic Communication | 3 |
JMC:5270 | Leadership Communication | 3 |
LAW:8753 | Nonprofit Organizations: Structure, Governance, and Strategy | 3 |
LAW:8755 | Nonprofit Organizations: Advocacy, Collaboration, and Fundraising | 3 |
MGMT:3500 | Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness I | 3 |
MGMT:3600 | Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness II | 3 |
MGMT:4600 | Nonprofit Ethics and Governance | 3 |
PBAF:6238 | Public Human Resource Management | 1 |
PBAF:6241 | Strategic Management of Public and Nonprofit Organizations | 3 |
PBAF:6282 | Grant Writing | 2 |
PBAF:3560 | Public Policy and Persuasion | 3 |
Public Policy
Course List
Course # |
Title |
Hours |
| |
PBAF:6201 | Data Science for Urban Analytics | 3 |
PBAF:6340 | Public Policy Analysis | 3 |
| |
CEE:3790 | Resilient Infrastructure and Emergency Response | 3 |
CEE:4107 | Sustainable Systems | 3 |
CEE:5410 | Politics and Economics of the Food, Energy, Water Nexus | 3 |
CRIM:3416 | Race, Crime, and Justice | 3 |
CRIM:3417 | Community Corrections | 3 |
CRIM:3425 | Women, Crime, and Justice | 3 |
CRIM:3600 | Crime and Public Policy | 3 |
EPLS:6222 | Introduction to Educational Policy | 3 |
EPLS:6225 | Higher Education Policy | 3 |
EPLS:6228 | K-12 Education Finance and Policy | 3 |
HMP:5610 | Health Policy | 3 |
HMP:5650 | Health Policy Analysis | 3 |
HMP:6710 | Federalism and Health Policy | 3 |
JMC:5248 | Strategic Political Communication | 3 |
LAW:8433 | Environmental Law | 3 |
LAW:8622 | International Environmental Law | 3 |
PBAF:5120 | Public Policy Process | 3 |
PBAF:6201 | Data Science for Urban Analytics | 3 |
PBAF:6340 | Public Policy Analysis | 3 |
POLI:3102 | The U.S. Congress | 3 |
POLI:3104 | Immigration Politics | 3 |
POLI:3118 | Interest Groups | 3 |
POLI:3203 | Campaigns, Elections, and Voting Behavior | 3 |
POLI:3204 | Public Opinion | 3 |
POLI:3518 | Water Wars: Conflict and Cooperation | 3 |
POLI:3519 | Politics of Aging | 3 |
SEES:3420 | Sustainable and Green Building Concepts | 3 |
SEES:4750 | Environmental Impact Analysis | 3 |
SEES:4770 | Environmental Justice | 3 |
URP:5800 | Environmental Policy: Theory and Practice | 3 |
URP:6253 | Designing Sustainable and Healthy Cities | 3 |
URP:6256 | Environmental Policy | 3 |
URP:6258 | Systems and Scenario Thinking | 3 |
URP:6260 | Transportation Policy and Planning | 3 |
URP:6263 | Special Topics in Transportation Planning | 3 |
URP:6266 | Transportation, Urban Form, and Sustainability | 3 |
URP:6271 | Housing Policy | 3 |
URP:6273 | Community Development Through Creative Placemaking | 3 |
URP:6295 | Economic Development Policy | 3 |
URP:6297 | Financing Economic Development for Poverty Alleviation | 3 |
Capstone
Students take the public affairs capstone courses, typically in their final two semesters. They work on a community, state, federal, or nonprofit project in which they focus their efforts on an analysis of a contemporary public policy problem, research, development of policy proposals, and recommended action steps. This is done in tandem with the university’s Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC), which for ten years has been providing public consultation to communities in Iowa.
Course List
Course # |
Title |
Hours |
| |
PBAF:6213 | Public Affairs Capstone I | 2 |
PBAF:6214 | Public Affairs Capstone II | 3 |
Electives
Students complete an additional 9 s.h. of elective coursework. Elective courses may be chosen from planning and public affairs (prefix PBAF) or urban and regional planning (prefix URP) courses numbered 4000 or above, with the exception of URP:6305 Readings and URP:6325 Thesis: Urban and Regional Planning; from courses outside of the School of Planning and Public Affairs listed under the preceding "Concentration Area" section; or from the following course list. With the permission of the program, additional courses not listed here may be approved as electives.
Students must complete a minimum of 3 s.h. in elective courses from planning and public affairs (prefix PBAF) or urban and regional planning (prefix URP) courses numbered 5000 or above.
Students are encouraged, but not required, to complete an approved internship with a public agency or a nonprofit organization through PBAF:6335 Internship. They engage in 80, 160, or 240 hours of internship work under the supervision of a public affairs professional. A maximum of 3 s.h. of PBAF:6335 Internship can apply toward elective requirements.
Course List
Course # |
Title |
Hours |
CEE:3003 | Project Management Skills | 1 |
EPLS:5240 | Topics in Education | arr. |
EPLS:6217 | Theory and Practice of Leadership | 2-3 |
IS:3910 | Approaches to Advocacy: From Theory to Practice | 3 |
Final Examination
An oral and written exam constitute the final examination. If the oral exam is passed, then the written exam does not need to be taken.
Undergraduate Degree/MPAff
Students working on an undergraduate degree program in the Tippie College of Business or the colleges of Education, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Public Health who are interested in earning the Master of Public Affairs degree may apply to a combined undergraduate degree/MPAff graduate degree program. The Undergraduate to Graduate (U2G) program enables students to begin work on the MPAff degree as they complete their baccalaureate degree. Combined degree programs enable students to earn both degrees in less time than it would take to earn the two degrees separately.
Separate application to each degree program is required. Applicants must be admitted to both programs before they may be admitted to the combined degree program. For more information, visit Undergraduate to Graduate (U2G) on the Graduate College website.
Admission requires an undergraduate degree and fulfillment of the minimum requirements of the Graduate College.
The priority deadline for funding consideration is Jan. 15 for fall admission. Funding for those who submit materials after these dates is considered only as funding permits. Applications for admission are accepted until July 15; April 15 for international students. For spring admission, applications are accepted until Dec. 1.
To apply, follow the directions on the Graduate Admissions website. Applicants can apply online and upload all supporting materials. All students requesting funding also must complete and upload the Funding Application/Award Form.
Graduates land positions in professional policy analytical and/or managerial service in the public and nonprofit sectors. The degree builds knowledge and skills in a mix of topics that includes policy, economics, statistics, research, and management and prepares students for professions that influence public policy through analysis, application, or management. They have a number of career choices available, many of which lead to executive positions in federal, state, and local governments, or in nonprofit agencies.
Example positions in the local, state, federal, nonprofit, and private sectors include:
- local—government specialist leading to a city manager, community health director, or public housing manager;
- state—program manager for a state housing authority or a policy analyst/program manager for a variety of state agencies;
- federal—presidential management fellow, or starting as a GS-9 position in the federal government in a variety of federal agencies;
- nonprofit—program director leading to a nonprofit organization director; and
- public, private, and nonprofit—public and government relations specialist, lobbyist, or elected official.
The School of Planning and Public Affairs provides career assistance efforts for both internship and post-graduation job seekers. It offers job information access and one-on-one advising support from the school's career services coordinator.
Sample Plan of Study
Sample plans represent one way to complete a program of study. Actual course selection and sequence will vary and should be discussed with an academic advisor. For additional sample plans, see MyUI.
Master of Public Affairs, MPAff
Plan of Study Grid (Manual)
Academic Career |
Any Semester |
a |
|
b, c |
|
| Hours | 0 |
First Year |
Fall |
PBAF:5120 |
Public Policy Process |
3 |
PBAF:6200 |
Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Policy |
3 |
PBAF:6205 |
Economics for Policy Analysis |
3 |
PBAF:6208 |
Program Seminar |
1 |
| Hours | 10 |
Spring |
PBAF:5117 |
Bureaucratic Politics and Public Administration |
3 |
PBAF:6225 |
Applied GIS for Planning and Policy Making |
3 |
PBAF:6233 |
Public Finance and Budgeting |
3 |
d |
3 |
| Hours | 12 |
Second Year |
Fall |
PBAF:6213 |
Public Affairs Capstone I |
2 |
PBAF:6335 |
Internship d, e |
3 |
f |
3 |
d |
3 |
| Hours | 11 |
Spring |
PBAF:6214 |
Public Affairs Capstone II g |
3 |
d |
3 |
d |
3 |
h |
|
| Hours | 9 |
| Total Hours | 42 |