The Public Administration Minor provides courses to provide essential background and internship experiences for students seeking employment in state or local government. It is open to all students. You may wonder what our public officials actually do. Perhaps you are thinking about a career in public service but do not know what that would involve. Public Administration provides a hands-on insider's view of government by teaching students how public organizations function.
Why Study Public Administration?
You can gain hands-on experience with government and other organizations from the inside. Public administration will teach you about all the public programs and agencies that affect your daily life, your community, and our country.
You will discover:
- How government organizations are organized and managed.
- How they design programs that we rely upon for our economy, social services, and national security.
- How our states, cities, and towns work with the federal government to achieve their goals.
- How the federal government creates and changes public policy programs to respond to the needs and interests of communities.
At Montclair State University, Public Administration is a minor, which may be combined with many majors, to enhance career prospects in the public sector. The minor requires 18 credits. Students take 2 required courses (3 credits each) and 12 credits in electives, which may include optional internships. Students learn about the policy process as well as specific government functions such as budgeting and personnel. Elective courses address the particular problems of state and local government, the politics of the federal bureaucracy, urban administration, and legal research.
To reinforce the insights they gain from their coursework, students may opt to work in an internship one day per week in a government office. The 4-credit internship can be taken as an elective for up to two semesters. Some students have worked on particular projects, including pre-trial intervention programs, downtown revitalization, and price-fixing of government programs. Other students prefer to work in a variety of different departments. All acquire valuable knowledge about government organizations and make a contribution to their communities.
The Public Administration minor helps students to gain valuable job experience, by acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to plan, implement and evaluate public programs. Students go on to work in local, state or federal government, as well as in nonprofit organizations and the private sector.