School of Public Affairs and Administration

School of Public Affairs and Administration
Western 麻豆传媒应用 University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5440 USA
(269) 387-8932

Bachelor of Science in Public and Nonprofit Administration

The Bachelor of Science with a major in public and nonprofit administration prepares students for careers in a wide range of public and nonprofit organizations. The major is designed to allow students to focus on the public and nonprofit administration track or a more flexible approach depending on their interests and career aspirations.

The major requires a minimum of 33 hours of coursework by drawing from courses within the School and from other WMU programs. Students complete nine credit hours of cognate courses, 15 credit hours of core courses, three credit hours of capstone or professional experience, and six credit hours of elective courses to fulfill their academic and professional needs.

Program requirements (33 hours)

Cognate courses (9 credit hours)

  • - Principles of Microeconomics (3 credit hours)
  • Methods of Data Analysis (choose one):
    • - Introductory Economic Statistics (3 credit hours)
    • - Data in Politics and Policy (3 credit hours)
    • - Methods of Data Analysis (3 credit hours)
    • - Business Statistics (3 credit hours)
    • - Foundation of Data Analysis (3 credit hours)
    • - Data Analysis for Biosciences (3 credit hours)
  • - Professional Writing: Audience, Genre, and Workplace Cultures (4 credit hours)

Core courses (15 credit hours)

  • - Introduction to Public and Nonprofit Service (3 credit hours)
  • Foundations (choose one):
    • - Foundations of Nonprofit Management (3 credit hours)
    • - Public Management for Democracy (3 credit hours)
  • - Human Resource Administration (3 credit hours)
  • Accounting and Finance (choose one):
    • - Public Budgeting and Accounting (3 credit hours)
    • - Nonprofit Accounting and Finance (3 credit hours)
  • - Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation (3 credit hours)

Capstone or professional experience (3 credit hours)

  • Choose one:
    • - Internship in Public and Nonprofit Administration (3 credit hours)
    • - Public and Nonprofit Administration Capstone (3 credit hours)

Electives (6 credit hours)

  • - Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation (3 credit hours)
  • - International Public Financial Management (3 credit hours)
  • - Managing Community Growth and Development (3 credit hours)
  • - Grant Writing (3 credit hours)
  • - Social Policy Administration (3 credit hours)
  • - Fund Raising for Nonprofit Organizations (3 credit hours)
  • - Culture, Diversity, and Social Equity (3 credit hours)
  • - Strategic Planning and Performance Measurement (3 credit hours)
  • - Labor Economics (3 credit hours)
  • - Environmental Economics (3 credit hours)
  • - Economic Development (3 credit hours)
  • - Cities and Urban Systems (3 credit hours)
  • - Public Policy and Aging (3 credit hours)
  • - Women, Globalization and Social Change (3 credit hours)
  • - Race, Gender and Science (3 credit hours)
  • - Urban Politics in the United States (3 credit hours)
  • - Introduction to Public Policy (3 credit hours)
  • - Environmental Politics (4 credit hours)
  • - American Foreign Policy (4 credit hours)
  • - Public Policy and the Economy (3 credit hours)
  • - Philosophy and Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
  • - Race and Gender Issues (3 credit hours)
  • - Race in America (3 credit hours)
  • - Race, Ethnicity, and Justice (3 credit hours)
  • - Social Welfare as a Social Institution (3 credit hours)

Additional courses from within the School of Public Affairs and Administration as well as other departments and colleges may qualify for elective credit with approval of the departmental advisor.