Department Information

Political Science 601 Pray-Harrold, 734.487.3113 

Barbara Patrick, PhD, Department Head

Advisor Information

Tucker Staley, PhD, 601 Pray Harrold, 734.487.3113

Program Admission (Graduate)

Admit Terms and Deadlines

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; students may start the program in the Fall or Winter. See Application Deadlines.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and be previously admitted to the undergraduate portion of the combined program.

Applicants must confirm with their advisor that they have completed enough undergraduate credits before applying to the graduate portion of the program. A student must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours before being fully admitted to the graduate portion of the program.

Applicants must also meet the following program requirements. Requirements may be more stringent than the minimum graduate school requirements.

Students must consult with their undergraduate academic advisor before applying.

• An undergraduate GPA of 3.3
• A 250-word description of the applicant’s academic and professional history and professional goals in public administration.
• Two letters of recommendation.

Application

Your application will be submitted using GradCAS, a Centralized Application Service (CAS) hosted by Liaison. After reviewing the admission requirements, please review the application instructions  and select the appropriate application.

• 2022-2023 Application
• 2023-2024 Application

International Applicants Before applying, applicants must review the international application/process deadlines at emich.edu/international as they may differ from general program requirements.

For additional information regarding the application process, please see Graduate Admissions or International Admissions.

Undergraduate Degree -

The requirements listed below will appear on a student’s undergraduate transcript.

According to university policy, students must earn a minimum of 120 credit hours at the 100-level or above for a bachelor’s degree. Completing this combined program’s minimum credit hour total (Undergrad + Grad) will likely require students to complete more than 120 credit hours as an undergraduate.

General Education Requirements:

For specific requirements, see General Education  or view the General Education Worksheet [PDF] .  

Major Requirements: 30 hours

Minor Requirement:

This major requires a minor. See available minors  for a list of options, or contact your advisor.

Graduate Courses Used on Undergraduate Program: 9 hours

• PLSC 515 Public and Nonprofit Personnel Administration  3 hrs
• PLSC 578 Quantitative Methods in Public Administration  3 hrs
• PLSC 630 Public Policy Analysis and Formulation  3 hrs

Graduate Degree -

The requirements listed below will appear on a student’s graduate transcript.

Students must ensure they have completed the necessary graduate credit hours that, when combined with those taken as an undergraduate, equal or exceed the minimum number of credit hours required for this combined program. Sometimes, a student may need additional coursework beyond the minimum requirements listed below to meet the total hour requirement.

Degree Requirements: 27 hours

Combined Program Total: 151 hours

Critical Graduation Information

Each undergraduate student will be responsible for fulfilling the requirements (or their equivalents) of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration at a college or university or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

In the event an undergraduate student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration at a college or university, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their major/minor in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

Minimum requirements for all bachelor’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University

Some majors and minors require more than the minimum in one or more of the areas below; students are urged to consult this catalog for the requirements of their particular programs.

• Earn a minimum total of 120 credit hours at the 100-level and above.
  • Courses numbered below 100 are not counted toward this degree requirement.
  • At most, eight credit hours of physical education (PEGN) activity courses are counted toward this requirement.
• Meet the requirements of the General Education program (see information below), including completing a Writing Intensive (GEWI) course in the student’s major.
• Earn a minimum of 60 credits from a four-year college or university; courses taken at community colleges cannot be used to meet this requirement (Some formal program-to-program articulation agreements modify this requirement. See specific agreements for details).
• Earn a minimum of 30 credits from courses taken at EMU.
• Complete 10 of the last 30 hours for the degree from courses taken at EMU.
• Have a minimum of 30 unique credit hours in their major and 20 unique credit hours in their minor for a total of at least 50 unique credit hours between them. Some majors that require 50 or more hours themselves do not require a minor. A double major automatically satisfies the need for a minor unless one of the two majors requires a specific minor. Students should check the requirements of the selected major in the undergraduate catalog to see if a minor is required. 
• Earn no more than 60 credit hours in one subject area (prefix). Credits over the 60 maximum will not be counted toward the minimum of 120 credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
• Earn the minimum number of credits in 300-level and above courses in each major and minor as specified below - these credits must be earned in distinct courses; that is, no course can be used to fulfill this requirement in more than one major or minor.
  • Earn a minimum of 6 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each minor
  • Earn a minimum of 9 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that requires a minor.
  • Earn a minimum of 15 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that does not require a minor
• Transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken at colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the recognized regional accrediting bodies only if the courses are college-level (equated to 100-level or above at EMU) and the student earned a “C” (or 2.0 on a 4 point scale) or better. Transfer credit may be awarded on a case-by-case basis for college-level courses in which a “C” (2.0) or better was earned at institutions outside the U.S. or at non-accredited U.S. institutions; individual departments/schools conduct the internal review of such courses within EMU, and additional documentation may be required. Please note: EMU awards only credit for transferred courses; grades are not used to calculate an EMU GPA.
• Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in courses taken at EMU to graduate. In addition, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 must be reached in each major and minor. Only courses a student takes at EMU and those applied to their major or minor are used to calculate their major and minor cumulative GPAs. (Note: some programs may require a higher GPA - check with your program advisor.)

General Education Requirements - EMU’s General Education Program requires students to choose from a menu of approved courses in several different areas; do not assume that other courses in the same department or similar names will fulfill these requirements. A detailed description of General Education requirements is available in the General Education  section of the catalog.

Students who transferred to EMU may have modified general education requirements based on Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) or articulation agreements; consult your academic advisor for additional information.