UIS ProgramPhotos of Students and Faculty

MPA Admission Requirements

Admission to Master of Public Administration Program

Admission to the MPA Program involves a separate application process in addition to the admission procedure for UIS. Students may be admitted as a Full or as a Conditional Admission. Requirements for admission to the online program are the same as those for the on-campus program.

To be considered for full admission the prospective student must meet the following criteria:

  1. An earned baccalaureate degree from an accredited U.S. college/university, or its equivalent;

  2. An overall undergraduate grade-point average of 2.50 or better (C=2.00);

  3. Completion of the following prerequisites requirements. A grade of C (2.00) or better must have been earned for each undergraduate course used to meet these prerequisites:

    • one undergraduate political science course in U.S. government (Applicants who graduated from Illinois high schools have met this requirement.);
    • one undergraduate course in microeconomics; and
    • competence in one computer spreadsheet application package, such as LOTUS or EXCEL;

    Examples of prerequisite courses at Lincoln Land Ccommunity College and at UIS are below. Students may take prerequisites at any college or university they wish. Contact the department chair if you need to verify that a course will work for a prerequisite.

    U.S. Government

    *POS 101 American Politics (LLCC)
    *POS 201 Intro to the American Political System (UIS)

    Economics

    *ECO 131 Principles of Economics (Micro) (LLCC)
    *ECO 315 Economics for Administration (UIS)

    Note: Whether students have their prerequisites completed is not a factor in admission decisions. Students without prerequisites are admitted conditoinally until prerequisites are completed.

  4. If the applicant is a non-immigrant international student for whom English is not the native language, a TOEFL score of at least 550 paper-based or 213 computer-based.

UIS Financial Aid requires that prerequisites be completed within 12 months of admission. So if a student receives financial aid, finishing the prerequisite requirement early would be the best plan of study.