MPA Dual Degrees

LMU MPA-MSCJ Combined Degree Program

The LMU MPA-MSCJ Combined Degree program combines the core requirements and electives for the Master of Science in Criminal Justice and MPA programs to allow students to achieve both graduate degrees concurrently. The total number of credit hours required for completion of this dual degree program is 51 credit hours (cr).

 The curriculum for the LMU MPA-MSCJ Combined Degree Program includes:

- CRIM 505, 506, 510, 512 = 12 credits

- PADM 520, 525, 530, 540 = 12 credits

 One course from each of the following pairs of courses: 

CRIM 511 or PADM 510 = 3 credits

CRIM 650 or PADM 515 = 3 credits

 7 additional PADM or MSCJ elective courses = 21 credits 

 TOTAL = 51 credit hours

Apply Now to the MPA-MSCJ Combined Degree Program!

LMU JD-MPA Combined Degree Program

LMU offers a combined degree between the Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree and the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. Students enrolled in LMU Law's JD program must successfully complete ninety (90) credit hours. The program of legal education includes sixty-seven (67) credit hours of required courses and twenty-three (23) hours of elective courses. The LMU MPA program must successfully complete thirty (30) credit hours, including eighteen (18) required credit hours and twelve (12) elective credit hours. Students enrolled in the JD-MPA Dual Degree Program may use twelve (12) elective credit hours of JD coursework to fulfill MPA program elective credit hours.

During Summer terms, Law students can only enroll in 7 credit hours of coures total between Law and PADM. Students not taking law courses are permitted to take the normal 9 credit hours (full load). 

LMU MPA courses are offered online through Canvas and a video conferencing platform such as Zoom. MPA courses are typically offered both synchronously (live) and asynchronously (recorded) to accomodate for student work schedules.

For more information about the LMU Duncan School of Law, please visit:
https://www.lmunet.edu/duncan-school-of-law/index.php

For more information about the LMU JD-MPA Dual Degree Program, contact us at: mpa.info@lmunet.edu or 423.869.6764

Apply Now to the LMU JD-MPA Combined Program!

Combined Degree Schedule

The following MPA courses are offered either on a rotating basis (Summer A and Summer B) or every summer semester. Students may choose to take any combination of courses to complete the MPA portion of the dual degree program.

Suggested Electives

Students enrolled in the JD-MPA Combined Degree Program may use twelve (12) elective credit hours of JD coursework to fulfill MPA program elective credit hours. Law courses will be counted toward the MPA elective requirements if they are at least reasonably related to the operation of government or the nonprofit sector. The following courses are suggested electives for students pursuing the LMU JD-MPA Combined Degree within the LMU Duncan School of Law (DSOL):

• LAW 3010 Legislation and Regulation
  This course provides an introduction to the substance and procedure of drafting legislation, the administrative state, and canons of statutory interpretation. Specifically, it focuses on: (1) the politics and policy underlying legislative and administrative actions, including campaign finance law and ethical issues; (2) the process of developing, drafting, and enacting legislation; (3) the implementation of legislation by administrative agencies through the promulgation of regulations, and (4) the interpretation of both statutes and regulations by the courts. The course will also provide students with an introduction to career opportunities both inside of government and outside government as lawyer/lobbyists.

• LAW 3011 Administrative Law
  This class is designed to build on the foundation acquired in Evidence and to facilitate thinking about evidence in a trial setting. The focus of this course will be to "think evidentially." The course will take the student through a number of trials, both criminal and civil, using prepared fact patterns. The course will focus on the Federal Rules of Evidence and cover evidentiary law including relevance, character evidence, hearsay, impeachment, opinion evidence, expert testimony, and evidentiary privileges. It will examine the rules governing the presentation of evidence, including motions in limine, objections, and motions to suppress.

• LAW 3012 Nonprofit Organizations
  This course introduces concepts of how nonprofit organization and tax exempt organizations are defined in context of the law. Students will understand how to create and organize a nonprofit/tax exempt organization, how to maintain proper standing, and how to dissolve a nonprofit organization. The course provides an overview of the rules, regulations, and limitations imposed on nonprofit organizations by the courts, the IRS, and/or other governing bodies. Students will understand the crucial importance of governance and ethics in the operation of the organization. The duties and responsibilities of nonprofit directors as well as potential for liability issues relating to service on nonprofit boards will also be examined. Students will be exposed to the role attorneys play in the nonprofit sector. The course exposes students to the interplay between different types of organizations and their role(s) in the community.

• LAW 3092 Municipal Government Law
  Local governments enjoy substantial law-making and regulatory authority, bearing significant responsibility for the financing and provision of most domestic public goods and services. This course will consider the source, scope and limits of local government power. It will address the allocation of these powers and the legal rules that provide the foundation and corresponding obligations associated with their use. Some specific topics will include public administration, public financing, liability and risk management, zoning and annexation, public utilities, eminent domain and condemnation, inducements to business and industry, public law enforcement, municipal courts, and education.

• LAW 3101 Labor and Employment Law
  This course provides a study of the statutes, regulations, and cases dealing with a number of legal rights and concerns of employees and employers, including labor relations between private employers and employees acting in a collective capacity. Areas covered may include: (a) historical background and economic considerations of labor and employment laws; (b) at-will employment and wrongful discharge; (c) organization and representation of employees; (d) union collective action and collective bargaining; (e) worker's compensation law and practice; (f) labor standards legislation, such as wage-and-hour laws (e.g., Fair Labor Standards Act-FLSA, public contract "prevailing wage" requirements); (g) health-and-safety laws (e.g., Occupational Safety and Health Act-OSHA); and (h) an introduction to pension-protection laws (e.g., Employee Retirement Income Security Act-ERISA).

• LAW 3211 Immigration Law
  This course provides a study of the legal, historical, and policy perspectives that shape U.S. law governing immigration and citizenship, including the constitutional bases for regulating immigration, the history of immigration law in the United States, and the source and scope of congressional and executive branch power with regard to immigration. The course will also examine the role of the judiciary in interpreting immigration law, citizenship and naturalization, the admission and removal of immigrants and non-immigrants, and the issue of undocumented immigration. Students will also analyze the impact of immigration in other areas, including employment, criminal law, family unification, and discrimination.

• LAW 4131 Tennessee Constitutional Law
  This course introduces students to the basic principles of U.S. Constitutional law, including the text of the U.S. Constitution, the American system of federalism, the federal courts and their authority for judicial review, limits on the federal judicial power, federal legislative power, federal executive power, limits on state regulatory and taxing power, the structure of the Constitution's protection of civil rights and civil liberties, economic liberties, equal protection and fundamental rights under due process and equal protection.