Critical Information
Department of Public Administration
San Francisco State University
835 Market Street,
5th Floor Room 515,
San Francisco, CA 94103
E-mail: mpa@sfsu.edu
Phone: 415-817-4455
Fax: 415-817-4464
Office Hours: M--TH 8:30am-6:30pm
Faculty Contact Info
- Dr. Suho Bae
Assistant Professor
Email, 415-817-4456
- Dr. Sheldon Gen
Assistant Professor
Email, 415-817-4458 - Dr. Katherine Naff
Associate Professor
Email, 415-817-4459 - Dr. Genie Stowers
Professor and Chair
Email, 415-817-4457 - Dr. Eric Zeemering
Assistant Professor
Email, 415-817-4460
The Admissions Process
The MPA department will have Spring Admission 2010. The deadline will be November 1. More information to come soon.
Students applying to San Francisco State University and to the Department of Public Administration should be aware of the requirements for admission to the Graduate School of San Francisco State University, the relevant deadlines for admission, Graduate School Admissions policies and Graduate Division forms. Please be aware of the Graduate Division and their requirements as well as general information about graduate education at San Francisco State University.
Admissions Process-- Send:
- A letter of application explaining why the applicant would like to attend graduate school, is interested in the public sector and / or non-profit work, and wants to attain the M.P.A. degree
- Two (2) letters of recommendation. These should be from individuals who know the candidate well and can address their potential for succeeding in graduate school. The letters do not have to be from faculty members at an academic institution, they can be from supervisors or others familiar with the candidate's work.
- Two complete sets of transcripts: One to the Department of Public Administration and one to the Graduate Division
- Complete and send the CSU Application for Graduate Admission to the Graduate Division
- A 3.0 grade point average in the last 60 units of undergraduate studies is a minimum requirement for admission. If the student does not have a 3.0 grade point average during their last 60 units of academic work, an alternate route to admissions into the Department of Public Administration is to earn at least 1100 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and submit those scores to the Department of Public Administration.
- Foreign students from non-English speaking countries must submit a score of at least 550 on the paper-based, 213 on the computer-based, or 80 in the internet-based TOEFL exam to be considered for admission in the SFSU MPA Program. Students who have taken the IELTS test as an alternative must obtain a score of 6.0 or higher.
- Foreign Students should contact the International Student Office at (415) 338-1293 for further information on subjects such as Visa status, housing, etc.
Pre-Requisites to the M.P.A. degree:
Pre-requisites are crucial to the admissions process
- There are two prerequisites to the degree program. Prerequisites must be completed within the first year; students cannot be advanced to classified student status without the completion of all prerequisites. Courses may be taken while beginning public administration courses in the MPA degree program.
- Successful completion and passing the Graduate Essay Test (GET): Within the first year, all students must obtain a passing grade (6, 7 or 8) on the University's Graduate Essay Test (GET). If a passing grade is not obtained, then students must successfully complete CA 514, CHS 514, EDUC 614, or SCI 614, all English writing classes. Students may enroll for these courses through the College of Extended Learning (CA 514, CHS 514 or SCI 614).
- Successful completion and attaining a grade of B in an undergraduate course in microeconomics
- Moving from Conditionally Classified to Classified status occurs with the filing of the Graduate Approved Program (GAP), which should be done when 6 units are remaining for completion of the degree.
- Other information and skills are equally important to success in the Department of Public Administration -- students should review basic information on: