Joint degrees with Urban and Regional Planning, Social Work, Criminology and Criminal Justice, and the College of Law are available.

Students should first apply to one of the programs to obtain admission to the graduate school and then petition the sister program for acceptance into a joint degree status. To be eligible for the joint J.D./M.P.A. degrees, a student must be admitted to the College of Law; admission to graduate standing in other programs does not constitute admission to the College of Law.

Acceptance by both programs is required to seek joint degrees. Students must apply for the joint degree before completing 24 hours of graduate credit in one of the programs.

In joint degree programs, students take: all or nearly all of each degree's core courses, research methods courses from one department, a single internship that meets both degrees' requirements, and fewer electives. The joint degrees may reduce the time required to obtain the two degrees by as much as two terms of study, as compared to doing the two programs separately.

For further details, interested persons should contact their advisor or the MPA director.