The baccalaureate program provides professional orientation and career specialization along with a sound liberal arts foundation. It is an interdisciplinary program designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary for success in public, private, and nonprofit organizations. The curriculum emphasizes general public administration knowledge but also allows students to concentrate in selected specialties.

Both freshmen and transfer students who are admitted to Grand Valley are eligible for admission to the program. Students interested in public administration should seek the advice of faculty in the program, especially when choosing courses to fit various needs and interests.

The public and nonprofit administration major consists of 36 credit hours, which includes three credit hours of required internship (PA 490). Below is a description of the current degree requirements. Majors who began their undergraduate work prior to Fall 2001 should consult the GVSU catalog for the year they entered. However, anyone may opt to apply the current requirements.

The prerequisite for the public and nonprofit administration major is Political Science 102 - American Government and Politics. This course does not count toward the degree program's 36 credit hours.

Majors must complete 24 credit hours of core courses by taking all of the following:

• PA 270 - Public Administration
• PA 307 - Local Politics and Administration
• PA 360 - Voluntarism and the Nonprofit Sector
• PA 375 - Public Budgeting and Finance Administration
• PA 376 - Personnel Policy and Administration
• PA 420 - Organization Theory and Dynamics
• PA 490 - Public Administration Internship
• PA 495 - Community Analysis (Capstone)

Majors must also complete 3 credit hours of elective by taking one of the following:

• PA 311 - Public Sector Information Technology
• PA 330 - Health Care Financing
• PA 335 - Grant Writing
• PA 372 - International and Comparative Public Administration
• PA 395 - Emergency Management 

Majors must select one specialty for nine credit hours. Some specialties also require that a specific PA course be taken as an elective. With an advisor's approval, PA 372, PA 380, PA 490 and PA 491 may count toward any specialty.

Majors must choose between a B.A. degree and a B.S. degree.

• Majors seeking a B.A. degree must demonstrate third-semester proficiency in a foreign language.
• Majors seeking a B.S. degree must complete the cognate sequence:
  1. STA 215 - Introductory Applied Statistics
  2. PA 300 - Research Methods in Public Administration
  3. PA 439 - Community Analysis

The minor in public administration provides students with the skills and knowledge necessary for success and advancement in public and nonprofit organizations. Useful for a wide variety of majors, the minor can open the door to exciting careers in public service.

Students minoring in public administration are required to complete the following 21 credits:

• PA 270: Public Administration
• PA 307: Local Politics and Administration
  or PLS 203: State Politics
• PA 360: Volunteerism and the Nonprofit Sector
• PA 375: Public Budgeting and Finance Administration
• PA 376: Public Personnel Policy and Administration
• PA 420: Organization Theory and Dynamics
• PA 495: Community Analysis (Capstone)

What do neighborhood associations, local development corporations, children and youth groups, religious organizations, museums, advocacy and support groups, chambers of commerce, and community clinics have in common? They are all nonprofit organizations that carry out important public service missions in health, recreation, culture, education, religion, or philanthropy. Thousands of large and small nonprofit organizations in Michigan employ people to work in program and event planning, grant writing, fundraising, public relations, program evaluation, and marketing.

The minor in nonprofit management provides students with knowledge and skills useful in understanding and participating in the work of the nonprofit sector. The minor in nonprofit administration consists of 21 credits. The required courses are:

• PA 270 - Public Administration
• PA 335 - Grant Writing
• PA 360 - Volunteerism and the Nonprofit Sector
• PA 420 - Organization Theory
• PA 490 - Internship

Two courses can be selected from the following:

• MGT 355 - The Diversified Work Force
• MKT 350 - Marketing Management
• PA 311 - Public Sector Information Technology
• PA 376 - Public Personnel Policy and Administration
• PA 390 - Leadership Dynamics
• PA 449 - Policy Research and Administration
• PA 491 - Internship II
• PA 495 - Community Analysis