Program Admission

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

For full admission, applicants must have 1) Earned a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree from a non-U.S. institution, 2) a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale, or 3.0 in the last half of the undergraduate program. Conditional admission may be available to applicants not meeting minimum admission requirements.

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

• An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or 3.25 in the last half of the undergraduate program
• A 250-word description of the applicant’s academic and professional history and professional goals in public administration.

Applicants are encouraged to contact the program advisor before submitting their application if they have any questions about admission under the criteria above.

Conditional Admission Promising applicants with a minimum of five years of administrative experience who do not meet the GPA requirements for regular degree admission and who have a GPA between 2.75 and 3.0 may be granted conditional admission. Such applicants must contact the program advisor before submitting their application. Applicants will be granted degree admission after completing at least three courses, two of which must be required courses for the program, with a minimum grade of 3.0 (B) in each course.

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.

- Go to 2023-2024 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Winter 2025.

- Go to 2024-2025 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2025, Fall 2025, or Winter 2026.

Domestic Applicants Within the application, follow the instructions to submit an official transcript from all previously attended institutions.

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.

Department Information

Political Science 601 Pray-Harrold, 734.487.3113

Barbara Patrick, PhD, Department Head

Advisor Information

Rose Jindal, MPA Coordinator, 601 Pray-Harrold, 734.487.3113

Degree Requirements: 15 hours

• Required Courses: 9 hours

• HLAD 510 Healthcare Organizations 3 hrs
• PLSC 510 Public Administration Concepts 3 hrs

• Select one course from the following:

• PLSC 515 Public and Nonprofit Personnel Administration 3 hrs
• PLSC 540 Public and Nonprofit Budgeting 3 hrs

•  

  Restricted Electives: 6 hours

  Select two courses from the following:

• HLAD 511 Health Law 3 hrs
• HLAD 512 Health Insurance 3 hrs
• HLAD 520 Healthcare Management Theory 3 hrs
• HLAD 524 Healthcare Manager Strategies 3 hrs
• HLAD 526 Effective Long-Term Care Administration 3 hrs
• PLSC 660 Public Health Care Policy 3 hrs

Critical Graduation Information

Each graduate student is responsible for fulfilling the requirements or their equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

Graduate Certificate requirements must be completed within three (3) years of first enrollment in a course applicable to the certificate. Dually enrolled students (certificate and master’s program) must complete both degrees within six years of first enrollment in the master’s degree. 

In the event a student does not complete the graduate certificate degree requirements within three years of the date of their original registration, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their degree in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

The following are the minimum requirements for all graduate certificate degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some programs require more than the minimum in one or more areas below.

• A graduate certificate must require a minimum of 12 credit hours.
• No more than six credits of independent study courses and 12 credit hours of special topics and independent study courses combined may be applied to a graduate degree.  
• Residency Requirement - For students admitted to a graduate certificate program, at least nine graduate hours beginning the semester of acceptance and enrollment into the program must be earned at EMU. Students completing multiple certificate programs must have a minimum of 9 unique credit hours per certificate.
• Application of completed certificates toward prior degree credit - Only credits from one completed graduate certificate may be applied to a master’s or specialist degree in a relevant field of study, as determined by the Graduate School and with the approval of the degree-granting academic department, and be included in the residency hours of the master’s program.
• The Graduate School does not permit the use of undergraduate courses (499 and below) to meet degree requirements on graduate programs of study.
• Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in all graduate-level courses taken at EMU and in their program of study to remain in good academic standing and be eligible for graduation. Students do not need to be registered for classes during the semester of graduation.