Public Administration, Joint MPA & JD
Earn Your Master in Public Administration and JD in our joint program. Complete two degrees in less time than if you attained them independently. Available to full-time and part-time students.
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About this Program
Earn Your MPA and JD Degrees Concurrently—in Less Time
Full-time students are able to complete both a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Juris Doctorate (JD) degrees in less time than it would take to complete them separately.
Specified courses taken at the Department of Public Affairs and Nonprofit Leadership within the College of Arts and Sciences may count toward the JD degree, and specified courses taken in the School of Law may count toward the MPA degree.
The joint degree program is also available to part-time students.
How It Works
The Seattle University joint MPA and JD programs allows students to choose whether their first year is spent in the Department of Public Affairs and Nonprofit Leadership or in the School of Law. Once a student chooses, they may not cross over into the other area during that first year.
The second year is spent in the other school (e.g., if the student chose law first, the second year would be in public administration and vice versa).
The last two years (or more) are mixed in that students may take courses in both IPS and the law school.
Students are required to be admitted separately to both the School of Law and the Master of Public Administration program in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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Career-Ready Education
Public Administration Internships: Experiential Learning
Gain practical skills and forge connections with practitioners in the field. Some examples of past internship sites include City of Seattle, King County, Sound Transit, BloodWorks NW, City of Bellevue and Enterprise Community Partners.
Top-Notch Clinical Legal Training Program
We offer an unparalleled experiential training program. From your first day, you'll learn to apply your classroom learning in situations helping real clients with real legal problems.
Renowned Legal Writing Program
Our top-ranked Legal Writing Program will give you the tools to become a highly effective legal writer who can get results for your future clients.
Highly Respected MPA Degree
Our MPA educates public service professionals seeking to advance their careers in local, state or federal government or the nonprofit sector.
Our Mission
Seattle University’s Master of Public Administration program educates public service professionals primarily in the Pacific Northwest. We develop our students’ leadership and administrative potential to address public problems in the government and nonprofit sectors.
Our Values
- Social justice and the engagement of diverse communities through policy and service.
- Ethical standards of accountability, integrity and transparency in pursuing the public interest.
- Positive relationships that foster respect and fairness for colleagues and community members.
Our holistic education prepares you with knowledge and skills in critical thinking, analysis, administration, management, policy and research. In our program, you learn:
- Practical skills to address organizational problems.
- Management and leadership skills that incorporate collaboration, teamwork and self- reflection.
- Oral and written communication skills that emphasize cogency and professionalism.
- Critical thinking skills to competently develop and design empirical research and engage in logical analysis.
- Skills and expertise to be more effective participants and advocates in the public policy.
TOP-RATED JD DEGREE
Earn your law degree in a top-rated JD program. With a solid grounding in legal theory and philosophy, practical training and experiential learning, you will be prepared to pass the bar exam and practice law effectively.
Our innovative approach to legal education combines exceptional teaching by a distinguished faculty with a variety of experiential learning opportunities.
With a solid grounding in legal theory and philosophy, you'll learn to apply your classroom learning in situations helping real clients with real legal problems.
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If you have any questions about the program or application, we’re here to help.
Destiny Ledesma
Senior Admissions Counselor