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Contact Information

Public Administration
PO Box 1510
Pembroke, NC 28372

Phone: 910.521.6637
Fax: 910.775.4423
Email: pa@uncp.edu
Email: mpa@uncp.edu

Location: Business Administration Building, Room 215
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admission requirements

Beginning in January, 2010, the MPA program moves to a “pool” admissions process.  The program will now evaluate the pool of applications rather than in a serial or “rolling” fashion.  This change offers advantages for applicants through creating a stronger group connection that should continue throughout the program (and form the basis for stronger professional networks beyond graduate school).  It enhances the ability of the program to coordinate course offerings and better serve students’ scheduling requirements.  One obvious result of this change will be a longer “lag” time between submitting a completed application and admissions decisions, but it also allows us to initiate communication with prospective students and use that time to establish a foundation for career advising.

Additionally, we are creating a cohort structure within our admissions process.  Your cohort will determine the course delivery method for your core courses; therefore, you should consider carefully to which cohort you wish to apply.

The application process appears in detail below, but the overview is simple:

  • As you are deciding whether to apply to our program, whether an MPA is the right degree for you, and how our program fits with your interests and situation, contact us via e-mail, telephone, or visit us.
  • When you decide to apply, you begin a process that operates through the UNCP Office of Graduate Studies.  ALL questions about assembling the application, determining the status of the items required in the application file, and related questions should be directed to the Office of Graduate Studies.  We DO NOT have access to incomplete files, and have the same information available to you about the status of items within your file.  Thus, if you are concerned about the arrival of a transcript or letter of recommendation, you need to talk with the Office of Graduate Studies.
  • Once your application file is complete, it is forwarded to the Department of Public Administration.  We will inform you when that occurs, and collect additional information from you at that time.  Your file will be reviewed by the MPA Graduate Admissions and Advising Committee.  During this time, we will ask for additional information and inform you where we are in our process, but we will not be able to inform you about our recommendation until we complete the review process. 
  • Upon completion of our reviews, we will notify the Office of Graduate Studies regarding our recommendation, you will recieve an official letter from the Dean of Graduate Studies informing you of the decision regarding your admission.  Students admitted to the program (or wait listed) will begin receiving regular communication from us as we start advising you about your course choices and steps to begin your way through the program.

Please note: ALL inquiries about the program should be directed to the Department; once you begin submitting application material, we have NO role until the required application material is complete, so any questions about your actual application should go to Graduate Studies or, even easier, check for yourself at https://app.applyyourself.com/?id=uncp-grad.

TO APPLY:

All students seeking to enroll in any graduate class must be admitted to the School of Graduate Studies. Click on the following related headings for additional information: International Students, UNCEP (Exchange Program).

To be considered for full or provisional admission to a degree program, an applicant must:

  1. submit a completed application form to the School of Graduate Studies
  2. pay $45.00 non-refundable or $60.00 non-refundable for International applicants application fee. Send by mail to the Graduate Office (address appears below), call in to the Cashier's Office with credit card--910-521-6206 or cash in person in the Graduate School.
  3. submit one official transcript from all colleges/universities attended to the School of Graduate Studies (address below); these transcripts must indicate the date that the applicant’s baccalaureate degree was awarded
  4. have a satisfactory undergraduate academic record and meet at least one of the following minimum GPA (4.0 scale) requirements: Must have an overall GPA of at least a 2.5 on all undergraduate work, or an overall GPA of at least a 3.0 in the undergraduate major, or a GPA of at least a 3.0 on all undergraduate work taken in the senior year
  5. submit an official report of satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). See additional information at Entrance Exams.
  6. have three recommendations (http://www.uncp.edu/grad/forms/recommendation_form.pdf) submitted on their behalf.  At least one recommendation should be from a college/university faculty member in the undergraduate major of the applicant; others should be from the applicant’s employer/supervisor.
  7. An essay describing your academic and professional preparation and reason(s) for seeking admission to the program. Essays should be one or two pages in length and make clear what the applicant brings to the program and what s/he hopes to gain from it.


International Students

In addition to items listed above, international students must provide:

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Visiting Students

The application process for students who are enrolled in a graduate program at another institution and wish to take courses at UNCP to transfer back to their degree-granting institution requires:

  1. A completed application and application fee
  2. A letter from your Dean or Program Director stating that you are in good-standing and authorized to enroll at UNC Pembroke to earn transfer credit. The letter should also state the specific UNCP course to be taken. Please submit this letter to:

Dr. Bill Gash, Acting Dean
School of Graduate Studies
UNC Pembroke
P.O. Box 1510
Pembroke, NC 28372

Updated: Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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PO Box 1510 Pembroke, NC 28372-1510 • 910.521.6000