JUMP - Political Science and Public Service: Politics, B.S.

Joint Undergraduate to Masters Program (JUMP)

Undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who are classified as seniors and are within 30 hours of completion of their first bachelor’s degree with an overall GPA of at least 3.25 are eligible to participate in a joint undergraduate to masters program. Please refer to the specific JUMP program requirements as some GPA requirements are higher. This Joint Undergraduate to Masters Program allows a student to take graduate classes early and potentially complete a graduate program in less time and for less cost than the traditional graduate program which is completed after the undergraduate degree is awarded. 

Find more information in Academic Regulations .

Program Requirements

See Political Science and Public Service: Politics, B.S.  

Specific JUMP Requirements

Seniors majoring in political science within 30 hours of completion of their first bachelor’s degree with an overall GPA of at least 3.25 are eligible to participate in the Political Science (PS)/Master of Public Administration (MPA) Joint Undergraduate to Masters Program (JUMP). PS/MPA JUMP allows political science majors to count up to 9 credits of MPA courses toward both the undergraduate degree and the MPA degree, enabling them to complete the graduate program in less time and for less cost after completion of the undergraduate degree. Junior political science majors with an overall GPA of at least 3.25 may submit PS/MPA JUMP applications to the Graduate School. MPA courses completed with a grade of B or better will count toward the graduate degree. Upon completion of the undergraduate degree, meeting graduate continuation standards, and completing an application to the Graduate School and MPA program, the student’s level will be changed from undergraduate to graduate for continuation in the remainder of the MPA program.

All political science majors have opportunities to take some 4000-level courses from across the political science curriculum. The designated JUMP MPA courses give students additional opportunities to achieve the following PS undergraduate program-level student learning objectives without duplicating existing undergraduate courses (except where noted and disallowed): (a) Students are able to understand governmental and non-state structures and actors in political systems. (b) Students are able to apply their disciplinary knowledge to real-world problems. With MPA program coordinator approval, PS undergraduate majors admitted to PS/MPA JUMP may apply up to 9 credits from the designated MPA courses toward non-course-specific 4000-level PSPS requirements. PSPS:PANM majors admitted to PS/MPA JUMP may also apply any of the courses listed toward PSPS 4600r.

Eligible JUMP MPA courses:

• PSPS 5010r Special Topics in Public Administration*
• PSPS 5111 Public Administration Foundations
• PSPS 5112 Public Administration Research and Analysis
• PSPS 5113 Program Planning and Evaluation**
• PSPS 5121 Organizational Theory and Administrative Behavior
• PSPS 5123 Public Policy
• PSPS 5211 Local Government Management Fundamentals
• PSPS 5212 Anatomy of the City
• PSPS 5213 Community Economic Development
• PSPS 5223 Intergovernmental Relations
• PSPS 5311 Nonprofit Management Fundamentals
• PSPS 5312 Ethical and Legal Aspects of Nonprofit Management

* MPA program coordinator approval will be contingent on the special topics course not duplicating any undergraduate course taken by the JUMP student.

** PSPS 5113 Program Planning and Evaluation may count in place of PSPS 4410 Program Planning and Evaluation toward undergraduate degree; PSPS 4410 and PSPS 5113 cannot both count toward undergraduate degree.