PhD of Public Administration

The doctoral program in the Department of Public Administration provides students with a rich and diverse education through a combination of hands-on research training and a foundation of coursework targeted at your specific areas of interest.

The goal of doctoral training is to equip individuals to add to the knowledge of public administration and related fields through disciplined research. When practicing professionals undertake the doctorate they should recognize the need to demonstrate substantial research skills and to interact with a research faculty on a continuing basis as they design and execute their dissertation projects.

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 96 semester hours of coursework beyond the baccalaureate is required. Those holding the Master of Public Administration from UIC or an equivalent program will ordinarily receive a maximum of 32 semester hours toward the degree requirement. A cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 (A = 4.00) in all graduate courses taken at UIC is required for graduation.

Specializations:

• Public and Nonprofit Management: The Public and Non-Profit Management specialization prepares students to conduct research on the management of agencies at all levels of government and non-profit organizations. Although knowledge about management in these sectors borrows heavily from the knowledge of management in the private sector, public management is fundamentally different due to the context of public governance and public values. Although they are not public organizations, non-profit agencies face demands and pressures that are similar to yet different from public organizations.
  All Ph.D. students selecting this area of specialization are required to take PA 527, Public Management Theory
• Financial Management: The Financial Management specialization prepares students to conduct research on the financial administration and fiscal policy of governments, primarily at the state and local levels. This is a very broad area of research with theoretical bases in the fields of public finance, political science, management, and accounting. Learning in the specialization focuses on applying theories and research in these fields to the context of the public sector in order to affect government policy and management decisions, and also to enhance knowledge in the broader field of public administration.
  All Ph.D. students selecting this area of specialization are required to take PA 554, Advanced Seminar in Financial Management.
• Survey Methods: The Survey Methods specialization prepares students to use surveys to conduct research in all areas of public and nonprofit administration and to conduct methodological research on the use of survey methods. Although survey design and analysis are skills that can be used in a wide range of substantive fields and areas of study, students are specifically focused on the use of surveys in research conducted by academics, government, and nonprofit organizations.
  All Ph.D. students selecting this area of specialization are required to take PA 578, Surveys, Public Opinion and Public Policy.
• Urban Governance and Networks: The Urban Governance and Networks specialization prepares students to conduct research on the variety of organizational structures through which local and regional public services/policies are designed, implemented, and evaluated. Urban policy issues cross traditional jurisdictional boundaries and require the integration of actors operating in different sectors and at different scales. Governance in urban/regional settings occurs through multiple and overlapping networks of governments, nonprofits, and for-profit organizations. This specialization explores the formation and management of government networks as well as their capacity to address the challenges confronting communities throughout the world. Research on urban governance draws from literature on collaborative management, local governance institutions, network science, political science, and public policy.
  All Ph.D. students selecting this area of specialization are required to take PA 562, Local, Urban, and Regional Institutions and Public Policy.