Master of Public Administration General online
Prepare to transition into a leadership role in a public service organization while tailoring your degree to meet your specific career goals.
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Program Overview
Get to know our 100% online Master of Public Administration General
$16,290*
Total Tuition
As few as 12 months
Program Duration
36
Credit Hours
Whether you’re already in public administration or considering a career change, the Master of Public Administration General online program from Murray State University gives you a broad range of essential skills. In this program, you will explore core fields of public administration such as budgeting, organizational theory, human resources, policy analysis, ethics and more.
What makes this innovative online MPA General program unique is the breadth of elective options enabling you to develop skills applicable in government roles, the private sector, nonprofit organizations or other niches in-between. By choosing coursework from a wide variety of high-demand areas, you can tailor your degree to your professional interests.
This 100 percent online program from Murray State’s College of Humanities and Fine Arts includes a capstone experience in which you will integrate theories and methods by proposing and executing a project involving a substantive management or analytic issue in the public sector.
This program will prepare you for careers such as:
- City Manager
- City Planner
- Human Resource Administrator
- Higher Ed Faculty/Administrator
- Public Works Director
- Military Officer
- Police Chief
- Nonprofit CEO
- Economist
- Financial Manager
- Emergency Management Director
- Urban/Regional Planner
- Healthcare Administrator/Manager
- Political Strategist
- Public Housing Director
- Economic Developer or Manager
- Public Relations Consultant
- City Manager
- City Planner
- Human Resource Administrator
- Higher Ed Faculty/Administrator
- Public Works Director
- Military Officer
- Police Chief
- Nonprofit CEO
- Economist
- Financial Manager
- Emergency Management Director
- Urban/Regional Planner
- Healthcare Administrator/Manager
- Political Strategist
- Public Housing Director
- Economic Developer or Manager
- Public Relations Consultant
Among the Best in the South
Ranked #1 among the "Best Value Schools in the South" by U.S. News & World Report (2025)
Have questions or need more information about our online programs?
Also available
Murray State University offers a variety of specialized Master of Public Administration concentrations. Check out all of our online MPA programs.
Tuition
Discover our affordable tuition at Murray State
Master of Public Administration online programs from Murray State University offer affordable, pay-by-the-course tuition. All fees are included in the total tuition.
Tuition breakdown:
$452.50
Per Credit Hour
$16,290*
Total Tuition
| Program | Per Credit Hour | Per Course | Per Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPA – General | $452.50 | $1,357.50 | $16,290* |
*The tuition rate is subject to annual changes based on approval by the Murray State University Board of Regents and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Refer to Graduate Tuition Rates for more information on the cost of attendance for Murray State.
Calendar
See how our course schedule is designed for flexibility
Murray State University online programs are delivered in an accelerated format ideal for working professionals, conveniently featuring multiple start dates each year.
Now enrolling:
1/8/25
Next Application Deadline
1/14/25
Start Classes
| Term | Start Date | Application Deadline | Document & Financial Aid Deadline | Priority Registration Deadline | Tuition Deadline | Last Class Day | Term Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2 | 10/15/24 | 10/9/24 | 10/10/24 | 10/11/24 | 10/14/24 | 12/8/24 | 7 weeks |
| Spring 1 | 1/14/25 | 1/8/25 | 1/9/25 | 1/10/25 | 1/13/25 | 3/5/25 | 7 weeks |
| Spring 2 | 3/11/25 | 3/5/25 | 3/6/25 | 3/7/25 | 3/10/25 | 5/6/25 | 7 weeks |
| Summer 1 | 5/12/25 | 5/6/25 | 5/7/25 | 5/8/25 | 5/9/25 | 6/21/25 | 7 weeks |
Ready to take the next step toward earning your degree online from Murray State?
Admissions
Learn how to apply to the online MPA General program
At Murray State University, we’ve streamlined the admission process to help you get started quickly and easily. Please read the requirements for the Master of Public Administration General online, including where to send your transcripts.
The requirements include:
Online application
accepted on a rolling basis
Bachelor’s degree
FROM A 4-YEAR DOMESTIC INSTITUTION
Transcripts
from all colleges and universities previously attended
2.5 GPA
ON UNDERGRADUATE COURSEWORK
For admission to this MPA online program, you must meet the following requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree from a 4-year domestic institution
- Undergraduate GPA of 2.5 or higher
- Transcripts from all colleges and universities previously attended
Official transcripts, test scores and other documents should be sent from issuing institutions to:
Email address: [email protected]
Mail address:
Graduate AdmissionsMurray State University
B2 Sparks Hall
Murray, KY 42071
Questions? Call 866-906-0541.
Courses
Advance your knowledge in these online public administration courses
For the Master of Public Administration General online, you must complete 21 credit hours of core courses and 15 credit hours of electives.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Examines the process of research in public affairs, with an emphasis on quantitative methods and techniques.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A graduate-level introduction to the study of public administration, covering substantive topics in the field as well as the political dimensions of public service and the ethical issues faced by government practitioners. Emphasis is placed on the development of the discipline as a field of inquiry.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Problems and methods in perception of public problems, determination of goals, generation and evaluation of alternative policy practices and programs, and explanation of policy choices. Emphasis on political and analytical methods of examining policy making and policy outcomes. Includes a survey of literature dealing with theories of the policy process.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An intensive, graduate-level overview of public agency and governmental budgeting and finance at the federal, state, and local government levels. This course examines budgeting as a tool of governmental economic and public policy. Specifically, the course considers the evolution and purposes of budgeting with special attention given to recent efforts to improve government resource allocation.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces management of public and nonprofit organizations by reviewing the history and evolution of organization theory and the application of these theories to 21st century public and nonprofit organizations. Topics such as organizational culture, conflict, stress, communication, leadership, groups, power and politics, and ethics will be examined in an attempt to explain and predict employee behavior in the context of public organizations.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An intensive, graduate-level overview of public sector human resource and human capital management in the federal, state, and local governments, including such topics as types of personnel systems; recruitment and selection; compensation and benefits; training and development; performance management; legal compliance; diversity; and labor-management relations. Students address the literature in one of these areas.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 1
A course integrating the theories and methods of public administration in a major research project related to a substantive management or policy problem in the public sector. Students must propose a research design for an original project after completing a major review of public administration literature. Normally this course shall be taken in the last semester of graduate work within the M.P.A. program. Required for all MPA students.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 2
A course integrating the theories and methods of public administration in a major research project related to a substantive management or policy problem in the public sector. Students must complete an original research project that was proposed in POL 688. Normally this course shall be taken in the last semester of graduate work in the M.P.A. program. Required for all MPA students. Prerequisite: POL 688 and instructor permission.
Students must take five electives from the following.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course will introduce students to the process, purpose, and background needed for the local economic development process.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course will introduce students to the methods and sources of information used in the economic development process.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course will introduce the student to the techniques of benefit-cost analysis and program evaluation tools used in business and government applications.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course will introduce students to the financial concepts, tools, programs, and practices needed by economic development professionals.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An intensive, graduate-level examination of major planning and evaluation techniques for government programs.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An intensive study of the economic, political, and social environments of cities and other forms of local governments and the impact those environments have on local government administration. The roles and tasks of local government management, as affected by metropolitan conditions and state, regional, and federal governments, are also examined.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Comparative study of state and regional governments, administration, policies, and problems. Empirical research concerning structures, institutions, and political processes and the relationship between them and the policy outputs is examined and analyzed. Contemporary issues are examined from a comparative perspective to determine explanations for the variation among executives, legislatures, and bureaucracies in addressing or resolving these issues.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A comprehensive examination of the legal, political, and economic aspects of efforts to control the use of land. The course will cover constitutional, statutory, and common law issues regarding nuisance suits, private covenants, subdivision controls, zoning and zoning procedure, planning processes, and the exercise of eminent domain.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The role of government and politics in the regulation of business activities and the administration of major legislative enactments.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A study of political, economic, administrative, and legal aspects of government regulation. The course is intended to prepare practitioners for work in the field of regulatory policy.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course provides an overview of historical and contemporary topics associated with healthcare systems and their components. The course examines the complex components of the nation’s healthcare system and their interactions including organizational structure, financing, the impact of technology, utilization determinants and the involvement of federal agencies as well as private sectors.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Prepares administrators and practitioners to manage healthcare organizations by introducing concepts and skills essential to effective healthcare administration.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A course designed to provide healthcare administrators and practitioners an understanding of the critical issues and techniques used in successful planning efforts, including a comparison of public sector program planning and private sector strategic planning.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A course designed to provide healthcare administrators and practitioners a basic understanding of healthcare financial management principles and their application to the practical aspects of managerial decision-making in healthcare facilities.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course will explore the essential principles and techniques of quality improvement applied to patient care and the management of services in healthcare organizations will be emphasized.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Study of the major theories of health behavior and strategies used to implement health interventions. Students will examine the social, cultural, and environmental influences on behavior and the links between behavior and health. Emphasis will be placed on strategies for putting theory into practice via health counseling.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course will cover principles of biostatistics in the context of public health applications. It will include the basic and advanced statistical techniques for analyzing and investigating public health issues including disparities. A statistical package, like SPSS, will be used.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course will introduce and outline the science of epidemiology as it relates and contributes to the fields of public health, medicine, and the social sciences. Additionally, this course will focus on the epidemiology methods used to investigate health outcomes in different situations and populations through identifying causative and associative fators of disease and exposure.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course addresses how public policy development and analysis have an impact on the public’s health. The course is designed to provide professionals with the skills for collecting, analyzing, and communicating information on public health policy issues using approaches that would be useful in the policy making arena. Students will learn what policy is, who the policymakers are in public health, who the actors are who are affected by public health policy, and the major influences in determining what policy gets implemented, including the science underlying policy proposals.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Course examines factors in the environment that impact human health. This course is designed to explore ways in which humankind may control the environment in order to minimize deleterious effects on health and quality of life. These types of topics will be discussed: how certain environmental health conditions could be an asset or barrier to health, health behavior change, community participation, environmental health advocacy, justice and programming, the public health side of environmental health, and environmental epidemiology.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines theories and practices of leadership in public and nonprofit sector organizations. Emphasis is given to competing theories of leadership and to the examination of leadership through theoretical reference frames.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A seminar on the evolution, growth, and present nature of federal, state, and local interrelationships, with an emphasis on grants-in-aid and their implementation.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is on the individual, managerial, organizational, and societal challenges of establishing and maintaining ethical conduct within public organizations. The course will cover moral, philosophical, and legal perspectives on public ethics within government agencies and non-profit organizations.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An intensive examination of, current Federal and State policies on, and impacts of unionization and collective bargaining in the public sector. Special emphasis is placed on the responsibilities of public employees and public administrators in their respective roles in contract bargaining and administration. The course includes multiple simulation exercises and workshops on labor-management practices.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A comprehensive comparative study of public administration in a variety of different political, legal, and economic systems.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of the role of law in the administrative process. Topics to be covered include administrative rulemaking and adjudication, enabling statutes, open records and open meetings laws, procedural due process, and civil liability and immunity for public employees and governments.
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