Why Pursue a Public Administration Bachelor's Degree
UTSA’s Public Administration and Policy degree prepares students to take on a wide range of issues such as environmental sustainability, affordable housing, educational equity, and walkable neighborhoods. This degree will prepare you for leadership roles in public service by giving you a strong foundation on how government works, a focus on urban planning and management, and tools to analyze complex problems. Students learn from scholars as well as experienced practitioners in the policy field.
With the program based on UTSA’s Downtown Campus, the city becomes part of your classroom experience. Students walk to City Hall for class field trips and complete internships at a variety of agencies near campus. This program also offers students opportunities to study and gain professional experience in Washington, DC and at the state capitol in Austin, TX.
Advance Your Career with an Accelerated MPA
Students who want to advance in a career in public service can save time and money by pursuing an Accelerated Master’s in Public Administration.
The Accelerated MPA Program allows Public Administration undergraduates to earn the MPA degree with 30 credit hours instead of the normal 39 credit hours.
Choosing this pathway allows graduates to build a network of graduate level peers and faculty as well as accelerate their path to leadership in the Public Administration field.
See below for MPA requirements.
Admission Requirements
When you apply to UTSA, you select the major you'd like to study. The choice of major will not impact if you get admitted to the University (all students must meet UTSA's general admission requirements); however, some majors will require additional admission requirements to be able to declare the major your freshman year.
| Public Administration and Policy: There are no additional admission requirements to declare this major. You must meet UTSA’s general admission requirements. |
Requirements for the Accelerated Master’s in Public Administration
The Accelerated MPA Program allows current UTSA Public Administration undergraduates to earn the MPA degree with 30 credit hours instead of the normal 39 credit hours.
UTSA Public Administration students who have completed 60-90 hours of undergraduate coursework with a GPA of 3.0 or greater may be eligible. To be considered, submit the following materials:
- A letter of intent to the Public Administration Department Chair, stating why you are interested in this pathway to the AMPA program. This must also include your name, major, expected graduation date, and Banner ID.
- A letter of support for your candidacy from a UTSA professor with whom you have taken an upper-division class in any Department.
For details on course requirements, visit the catalog. For questions or more details, contact gina.amatangelo@utsa.edu
Scholarships
Pro Tip: Even if you don't think you will qualify for financial aid, you should still submit the FAFSA! Information from the FAFSA could impact certain scholarships that are even merit-based.
UTSA Scholarship Hub
Through one general scholarship application, you can automatically be considered for dozens of scholarships at UTSA, including scholarships that are available for this major. In order to access all available scholarship applications on the UTSA Scholarship Hub, you must be an admitted student. If you are a student applying for admission, but have not yet been admitted, you may sign in and complete the Scholarship Hub’s General Application as long as you have authenticated your myUTSA ID and Passphrase. Once you are admitted to UTSA, please sign back in to the Scholarship Hub to see if there are any additional scholarship opportunities available for you to pursue.
UTSA Scholarship Hub Public Administration and Policy Scholarship Opportunities
Distinguished Scholarship
UTSA offers an automatic merit-based scholarship to incoming new freshman and transfer students who display exceptional scholastic achievement in high school by the priority deadline. Non-resident and international students awarded a Distinguished Scholarship for a minimum of $1,000 for the academic year will be granted a waiver for non-resident tuition if scholarship eligibility is maintained. This means out-of-state and international students could pay in-state tuition! For fall admitted freshmen, this scholarship is valued up to $20,000 for up to four years. For fall or spring admitted transfer students, this scholarship is valued up to $6,000 for up to two years. Renewal eligibility must be maintained and funding must be available.
Distinguished ScholarshipsUTSA Bold Promise
Although not a scholarship, UTSA is committed to cover tuition and mandatory fees 100% for eligible students who come from low and middle-income Texas families.
UTSA Bold PromiseCareers, Salary & Skills
UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. See possible careers below. This data is pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls data 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. On top of the resources your college will provide, the University Career Center offers several resources to help students identify and develop the global skills necessary to successfully pursue and achieve lifelong career goals.
Minors & Certificates
After selecting a major area of study and enrolling at UTSA, degree-seeking students can choose from a variety of minors and certificates to supplement their education. Although not required, minors and certificates can help students customize their UTSA experience based on their passions and unique career goals.
Explore All Minors & CertificatesThe Honors Experience
Realize your full potential at The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Honors College. Rooted in experiential learning, our classes and programs are hands-on, project-based, and customizable to fit your individual goals. Students in any majors can get invited to our Honors College. Turn your passions into marketable skills for the future!
Why Join Honors?
Why UTSA?
The College for Health, Community and Policy (HCAP) is a diverse college that provides real world experiences and engages directly in our community. The college contains nine academic disciplines, and these important areas of study directly affect one another. For example, you can’t examine public policy without considering public health, criminology and criminal justice, psychology, nutrition, sociology and more. When you join HCAP, you will choose a degree program that complements your interests, conduct research and study with faculty who are experts in their field and engage with peers that will become lifetime friends.
Research is very important in the field of Health, Community and Policy. As early as your freshman year at UTSA, you will be involved in conducting research studies that will let you act upon your curiosity, learn experientially and make a difference in people’s lives. Some of the areas of research include vaccine access, preventing substance abuse, violence prevention, understanding demographic trends and health impacts, diabetes prevention and improving resources for underserved populations.
Ensuring our HCAP students are ready for the world of work is a top priority. HCAP has a dedicated internship director who coordinates with employers to provide internship opportunities and advice for students. There have been over 140,000 internships hours completed by HCAP students. Courses offer career-engaged learning experiences such as opportunities in undergraduate research, internships and field experiences. The HCAP Student Success Center provides additional outside classroom support in professional development and leadership.
Student Success
UTSA is all about your success. Our experiential learning initiative takes what you learn in the classroom and helps you apply it to real life. As a student in the College for Health, Community and Policy (HCAP), you will explore, engage and reflect on your experiences to launch your career in a global society. The HCAP Student Success Center is a one-stop resource to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional goals. Receive tutoring, find internships, connect with industry professionals for job opportunities, and enhance your professional development skills through the center’s comprehensive programming.