PCMI MPA Degree Requirements

To earn an Evans School Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree through our Peace Corps Master’s International track, you must complete 51-credit hours of course work and two years of overseas Peace Corps service. The 51-credit hours of required course work include:

Twenty-eight credits of core courses that will help you develop fundamental policy and management skills. These courses are taken in sequence, mainly during your first year of study.

The core courses include:

  • Microeconomic Policy Analysis (PBAF 516)
  • Managing Politics & the Policy Process (PBAF 511)
  • Managing Organizational Performance (PBAF 512)
  • Public Budgeting & Financial Management (PBAF 522)
  • Quantitative Analysis I & II (PBAF 527/528)
  • Public Policy Analysis (PBAF 513)

Some core courses can be waived by examination.

Seventeen elective credits with a minimum of 15 related to your area of focus and chosen in a combination of:

  • Nine restricted elective credits in three areas: analysis, economics, and values. One three-credit course from each area is required, with sample courses including:

    • Analysis
      • Advanced Multivariate Analysis Seminar (PBAF 529)
      • Introduction to Urban Simulation (PBAF 565)
      • Program Analysis in Developing Countries (PBAF 536)
      • Program Evaluation (PBAF 526)
      • Survey Research Methods
      • Scientific Information in Environmental Decision Making (PBAF 597)
    • Economics
      • Cost-Benefit Analysis (PBAF 518)
      • Economic Approaches to Environmental Management (PBAF 594)
      • Economics of International Development (PBAF 533)
      • Rural Development Economics and Policy (PBAF 534)
      • Urban Economics and Public Policy (PBAF 561)
      • Economics of the Public Sector (PBAF 517)
      • Law and Economics (PBAF 519)
    • Values
      • Competing Values in Public Service
      • Ethics and Public Policy (PBAF 506)
      • Ethics and Values in Environmental Policy (PBAF 596)
      • Leadership Ethics (PBAF 504)
      • Values in International Development (PBAF 539)
  • Eight elective credits taken through other departments and universities. Elective credits can also include professional development courses taken through the Cascade Center.

A degree project worth six credits that involves faculty advising for a research report on a topic of serious interest to you. Work on your project report will begin during your Peace Corps assignment, and then completed after you return from overseas.

View a complete list of core and restricted elective requirements for 2007-2008 (26 KB XLS)

The Peace Corps portion of the degree involves two years of volunteer service overseas working with:

  • Issues related to youth
  • Social/Health services
  • Small business development
  • Environmental issues

You will be assigned to a local, national, or international NGO to work on projects that will increase the quality and effectiveness of their services. Such projects include:

  • Increasing organizational capacity and sustainability
  • Creating strategic plans for funding
  • Raising public awareness of the organization’s mission
  • Conducting community outreach
  • Recruiting, training, and motivating volunteers
  • Developing mission statements, bylaws, and other documentation
  • Working with boards of directors
  • Mentoring staff with one-on-one skill building

Peace Corps projects completed by previous Evans School PCMI students include microcredit financing for small businesses in Morocco, youth development in Grenada, and AIDS education in South Africa, among others.

Before leaving for your assignment, you will be partnered with a fellow PCMI student who has already returned from their tour of service. Your partner will serve as a peer-mentor while you are overseas. After you return, you will return the favor for a different PCMI student who is about to begin their tour of service.

For more information, contact the Evans School Student Services office at evansrec@u.washington.edu or 206.543.4900.