Public Administration Master's Degree

Admission & Application Requirements

Applications are submitted through the UTSA Graduate Application. Please upload all required documents (listed below) on your UTSA Graduate Application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure completion and submission of the application, a nonrefundable application fee, and all required supporting documents are on file with UTSA by the appropriate application deadline.

Public Administration (MPA)
	Required Degree	Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university in the United States or have proof of equivalent training at a foreign institution.
	Minimum GPA	3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) Departments may consider GPA of last 60 semester credit hours
	Coursework	18 credit hours in an area related to this graduate degree and at least 12 hours must be at the upper-division level. Interested applicants who are unsure if their background credit hours are related to this program are still strongly encouraged to apply.
	Transcripts*	Required from all institutions attended; international transcripts must be recorded/translated to English
	Credential Evaluation	Required if you have earned university-level credit from foreign institutions. Submit an evaluation of your transcripts from Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) directly from the graduate admission application platform
	English Language Proficiency	550 TOEFL Paper / 79 TOEFL Internet / 6.5 IELTS / Duolingo 100
	Purpose Statement	Required
	Resume	Required
	Letters of Recommendation	1 academic or professional reference(s) demonstrating your attributes for successful completion of this program (you will request these through the Graduate Admissions Application; let your recommenders know of your deadline to ensure submissions are on time). Professional references for this program are preferred.
*Unofficial transcripts will be taken into consideration for admissions; however, if admitted into the program, you must submit official transcripts to the University.

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Application Deadlines

Applicants are encouraged to have their admission file completed as early as possible. All applications, required documents and letters of recommendation, if applicable, must be submitted by 5:00 PM U.S. Central Time on the day of the deadline. Deadlines are subject to change.

Public Administration (MPA)
Timing on Admission Decision: Completed applications will be reviewed for admission on a rolling basis. Decisions generally will be made and sent to applicants within 4 to 6 weeks of receiving the application.
Application Deadlines for:	Priority	International	Domestic
Spring 2025		November 1	December 1
Summer 2025		Not Available	Not Available
Fall 2025		June 1	July 1
Spring 2026		November 1	December 1
Summer 2026		Not Available	Not Available

Funding Opportunities

Funding is available for a limited number of Graduate Research Assistants (GRA). GRAs assist faculty members on their research projects. GRA openings are generally announced near or at a semester’s start by email or within the classroom. Students interested in working as a GRA may email the following to the Department’s administrative staff: (1) a cover letter specifying your interest and background and, (2) a current resume.

For information about scholarships, click below.

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Career Options

UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. The possible careers below is data pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls information from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program.

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