Applicants for the JD/MPA program must meet admission requirements of the School of Law, the School of Public Affairs & Administration and the Graduate School. Applicants should apply and be admitted to each school separately prior to enrollment in the first year of the joint program. Students should begin their course work in the School of Public Affairs & Administration no sooner than the second year of the matriculation of the law school. The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is the only required entrance examination for applicants. A student who decides to enter the program while enrolled in the first year of the JD curriculum, must consult and obtain approval from the School of Law and the School of Public Affairs & Administration as soon as possible. 

	Credit Hours
	J.D.	M.P.A.
Law courses required of all J.D. candidates	43	0
MPA required courses	0	37
LAW elective courses	35	0
MPA credit allowed for JD	12
Law credit allowed for MPA		6
Minimum hours required	90	43

 

I. Law courses required of all J.D. candidates:

First Year
Course	Credit hours
Law 804 Civil Procedure	4
Law 806 Intro. to Constitutional Law	4
Law 809 Contracts	4
Law 814 Criminal Law	4
Law 820 Lawyering Skills I	2
Law 821 Lawyering Skills II	3
Law 826 Property	4
Law 831 Torts I	4
Upper Class
3 courses from among the following:
Law 892 Business Organizations	4
Law 881 Conflict of Laws	3
Law 878 Criminal Procedure	3
Law 908 Evidence	3
Law 909 Family Law	3
Law 845 Jurisdiction	3
Law 837 Contracts II/ UCC Sales	3
Law 873 Commercial Law: Secured Transactions	3
Law 996 Trusts and Estates	4
AND in 2nd Year
Law 972 Professional Responsibility	2

II. Law courses required of all joint-degree candidates:

In addition to the 43 credit hours of coursework required of all law students JD/MPA students must complete an additional 6 credit hours from the following law courses:

Courses	Credit hours
Law 850 Administrative  Law	3
Law 939 Labor Law	3
Law 956 Local Government Law	3
Law 954 Legislation and Statutory Interpretation	3

Master of Public Administration Degree

The School of Public Affairs & Administration is home to the Edwin O. Stene Graduate Program in Public Administration and offers a Master of Public Administration degree. The Edwin O. Stene Master's program is one of the oldest and most respected programs in the United States, with our local government leadership program dating to 1948. Since 1998, our tradition of excellence in educating students at the masters’ level has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report with a #1 ranking in local government. The MPA degree may be obtained through course work in Lawrence, Topeka (as enrollment allows), and the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park.

The KU MPA offers 2 tracks:

1. The MPA track is designed for 1) working professionals seeking to strengthen their leadership skills for careers in public service professions or advance in their current profession without a career interruption and 2) full-time students who wish to complete the curriculum and specialize in other sectors of public service.  MPA track students may attend part-time or full-time. MPA track students may begin in the summer, fall or spring semester.
2. The City/County Management Fellows track is designed for students who are willing to commit to one year of full-time study and a second year in a full-time internship to prepare themselves for careers primarily in city, or county, management. The Fellows program requires additional application materials. City/County Management Fellows begin the program in the summer semester and completed the majority of their coursework over three semesters (summer, fall, spring). 

M.P.A. Degree Requirements

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree is awarded after successful completion of 43 credit hours of course work. This includes 19 hours (6 courses) of required core courses (including the student's choice of an experiential learning course to serve as a final reflective course) that all students complete, and 18 hours (6 courses) tailored to the student's interests and/or track (fellow or MPA track). In addition, all students must pass a written master's examination (final paper) to complete the requirements for the MPA degree. Once a student begins the program, all degree requirements must be completed within 7 years.

The MPA core coursework includes the following courses (16 credit hours):

PUAD 824	Creating Good Public Policy	3
PUAD 835	Managing Public Money	3
PUAD 836	Data Driven Decision-Making	4
PUAD 841	Context, Ethics and Legal Environment of Public Administration	3
PUAD 845	Managing Public Organizations	3
PUAD 895	Leadership, Professionalism, and Citizen Engagement	3
Or PUAD 898	Leadership, Professionalism, and Citizen Engagement	3

City/County Management Fellows will take the following courses to complete the program:

PUAD 825	Urban Policy & Adminstration	3
PUAD 834	Human Resources Management	3
PUAD 837	Advanced Public Budgeting & Finance	3
PUAD 851	Infrastructure Management	3
PUAD 892	Public Administration Internship	3
PUAD 894	Professional Development Seminar I	3

MPA track students will complete the required core courses and select a graduate certificate within the School of Pubic Affairs & Administration to complete 6 electives  (18 hours) to complete the program. Graduate certificates only require 12 credits, so there is additional flexibility in elective content for MPA track students. 

	Law	MPA	Total
First Year	29	0	29
Second Year	31	0	31
Third Year	18	31	49
Fourth Year		6	6
Total Credits Earned	78	37	115
Law Credit Allowed		6	6
MPA Credit Allowed	12		12
Total Credit Required	90	43	133

MPA track students have more flexibility to complete MPA coursework as it is scheduled around Law enrollment requirements.

The University of Kansas Graduate School Catalog states specifically that all course work toward any master’s degree requires a B (or 3.0) cumulative grade point average for the award of the degree. Students should understand that the grades received in any law courses that are credited toward fulfillment of the MPA degree requirements are incorporated into the MPA grade point average, which ultimately must be B (3.0) for the award of the MPA.

All joint-degree students also must fulfill the Upper-Level Writing Intensive course requirements and the Experiential course requirements in the School of Law. Please see the current Law School Catalog for details.