If you see yourself in a role of leadership, from serving the public through policy-making to running a health care or nonprofit organization, the clear track to success is through a joint degree in public administration and the law in Lansing, Michigan. It's possible to get both a Master of Public Administration and Juris Doctor degrees through a newly formed partnership between the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Western Michigan University's School of Public Affairs and Administration. WMU and Cooley now offer a joint degree program that will permit students to acquire the knowledge of both degrees and expedite completion of the requirements for both the MPA degree and the JD degree by eliminating duplicative course work.
The Western
Michigan University Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration
at WMU is administered by the School of Public Affairs and Administration. The
program provides a practitioner-oriented education to both in-career professionals
and pre-career students who aspire to positions of administrative leadership
in health care, and public and nonprofit organizations. The MPA seeks to enhance
the capacity of its graduates to be responsible public leaders who pursue democratic
values, foster ethical behavior, and integrate theory and action into effective
administrative practice.
The Thomas
M. Cooley Law School Juris Doctor
The Cooley program prepares students
for entry into the legal profession through a program of practical legal scholarship,
with the goals of providing students with the substantive knowledge and legal
skills to pass a bar examination and enter directly into practice or advanced
legal studies and to provide an ethical framework that will guide students throughout
their professional careers. Both
WMU and Cooley stress practical education and offer evening and weekend classes
three terms a year, permitting the flexibility to work and attend graduate programs.
How to Apply
for the MPA/JD Programs
Prospective students must apply independently
to WMU and Cooley and be admitted according to each school's admission criteria.
Students may be admitted to one program, begin taking courses in that program,
and then apply to the other. Cooley's application may be downloaded at www.cooley.edu.
WMU MPA applications and consultation with the Lansing advisor may be obtained
by calling the University's Lansing campus at (517) 327-1480. MPA applications
may also be requested by e-mail at cpa_spaa@wmich.edu.
Admission Requirements for WMU and Cooley
Western
Michigan University
If you would like to apply for Western
Michigan's Master of Public Administration, you must have an undergraduate degree
with at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale for regular admission.
It is also possible to be considered for probationary admission if you earned
a minimum 2.5 GPA in the final two years of undergraduate study.
Thomas M.
Cooley
Cooley uses fair and objective standards
to determine eligibility. Applying for a Cooley Juris Doctor degree would require
you to take the Law School Admission Test and register for the Law School Data
Assembly Service. For the most up-to-date admission requirements, please refer
to admissions requirements on the
Cooley Web site.
Either school may withhold support for a candidate seeking admission to the other school until that candidate has demonstrated proficiency in his or her studies at the initial school, and has demonstrated the capacity for dual degree study.
WMU and Cooley have classes beginning in January, May, and September.
WMU Program
Requirements
Western Michigan's MPA program is
designed to prepare students to pursue careers in government service or public
interest law. The course work covers administrative law, as well as the substantive
matters that are typically addressed by governmental agencies. Students who
want to complete a joint MPA/JD degree must complete a total of 39 credit
hours with a requirement of 21 credit hours completed in the law concentration
of the program (Pre-career students must complete an internship, raising total
degree requirements for them to 42 credit hours). Curriculum details may be
found at the following Web address: www.wmich.edu/spaa/ProJDMPA.htm.
MPA students can begin taking law courses after completing 18 credit hours at Western. Cooley students can begin taking Western courses after completing 27 credit hours.
MPA students who fail to maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in their MPA program may be dismissed from the University.
Cooley Program
Requirements
Cooley graduates must have completed
a total of 90 credit hours and maintained a minimum overall GPA of 2.0. Of the
90 hours, 63 are required courses and a minimum GPA of 2.0 must be maintained
in required courses, which are designed to help prepare students to successfully
pass the bar and enter practice in any jurisdiction in the United States. The
remaining class work consists of 27 hours of electives, which fall into elective
concentration sequences, allowing students to focus their electives in their
chosen area of practice. Students may select the Administrative Law concentration,
which includes courses in Federal Administrative Law, State or Comparative Administrative
Law, Business Planning or Law Practice, a clinical experience, and 12 credit
hours from a menu of administrative law course electives. Students may be eligible
for financial aid at either institution, but may not receive aid simultaneously
from both.
How the
Joint MPA/JD Degree Saves You Time
The joint MPA/JD degree allows students
to complete nine credit hours in one program and receive credit for it in the
other. This is accomplished in the following ways:
Cooley students enrolling in WMU may complete Cooley's Federal Administrative Law in place of the Western's Administrative Law and Regulation class, and transfer an additional six credits from Cooley to WMU.
MPA students who enroll at Cooley may transfer WMU's Foundations of Public Administration course, plus two additional MPA law courses taught by Cooley faculty. These courses may not be completed prior to the student's matriculation at Cooley Law School, however.
Students need not complete the two degrees concurrently. All students are encouraged to complete one year of one program before beginning studies in the second program.
Credit for course work in the JD program shall begin only for those courses taken after the student has matriculated in the law school program.
Additional information about Cooley’s can be found on this Web site or you can get more information about Western Michigan University by going to their Web site at www.wmich.edu/lansing/. You can contact Associate Dean and Professor Ann Miller from Cooley at (517) 371-5140 ext. 2915 or Gus Breymann from Western Michigan University-Lansing at (517) 327-1480 with any questions you have regarding the joint program.