Admission Information
Cost & Aid
Deadline dates for application
July 1 for fall semester admission.
November 1 for spring semester admission
April 1 for summer semester admission
All required application material must be received by the College of Graduate Studies by the deadline date.
Application Materials Required for the MPA
Applicants for the MPA must submit all of the following documentation to the College of Graduate Studies, Jacksonville State University, 700 Pelham Road North, Jacksonville, Alabama 36265-1602, to be considered for admission:
1. Completed JSU Graduate Application for Admission.
2. Non-refundable $35.00 application processing fee.
3. Official transcript(s) from all postsecondary institutions attended. (Students who have previously attended JSU do not need to request a transcript from the University.)
4. Official test scores on the GMAT, the General Test of the GRE, or the MAT.
5. Three "Graduate Reference Forms" completed by individuals who can provide qualitative assessment of the applicant’s potential for success in graduate course work.
6. A statement of purpose/interest that shows why the MPA degree is important to the applicant, what the applicant will bring to the program, and how the degree will benefit the applicant’s career aspirations.
7. A professional resume including academic history, employment, and voluntary/community work. Students who have one year or more of administrative experience working for a federal, state, local government, or a nonprofit organization must include this experience on their resumes and include a letter from the federal, state, local government, or nonprofit organization employer in order to be exempt from the internship requirement of this degree. The employer’s letter must state the dates of employment as well as the student’s main responsibilities while employed within the organization. Students lacking substantial prior administrative experience in government or nonprofit organizations must register for 3 semester hours of internship credit (PSC 597 Public Affairs Internship during their last semester of course work), successfully complete their internship responsibilities in a government (federal, state, or local) or nonprofit organization, and receive a passing grade for PSC 597. Students, who receive an internship waiver (based on administrative experience as discussed earlier), will take a public administration course elective in lieu of the PSC 597 Public Affairs Internship by advisement.
8. If English is not the applicant’s native language, the applicant is required to submit an official TOEFL score report, an IELTS score report, or a PTE score report.
Admission Requirements to the MPA
Applicants who meet the general admission requirements to the College of Graduate Studies are eligible for admission to the MPA. A particular undergraduate major is not specified for admission to this program.
Applicants must meet one of the following admission formula requirements. For purposes of computing the undergraduate GPA, a 4.0 grade-point scale is used. The plus (+) and minus (-) grades from undergraduate transcripts are not used in calculating the GPA.
Unconditional Admission
200 times the undergraduate GPA on the undergraduate degree plus the GMAT is equal to or greater than a total of 850 points.
OR
450 times the undergraduate GPA plus the total score of verbal and quantitative sections of the General Test of the GRE is equal to or greater than a total of 1900 points;
OR
15 times the undergraduate GPA plus the MAT score is equal to or greater than a total of 80 points.
Conditional Admission
Any applicant failing to meet the requirements for unconditional admission may be conditionally admitted with the recommendation of the graduate faculty in the applicant’s major and approval of the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.
Applicants who are granted conditional admission must achieve a GPA of at least 3.0 on the first 12 graduate hours attempted within a twelve-month time frame. Failure to meet these conditions will result in the student being dropped from graduate studies.