mpa Admission Requirements

Application Deadlines 

Applicants who submit their materials by the following deadlines will have priority admission. 

Fall: March 1
Spring: October 1
Summer: January 1

However, we continue accepting applications on a rolling basis while course seats are available. Please email the MPA program director, Dr. Anna Filipova (filipova@uwosh.edu) if you missed the priority deadline but still want to apply.

Full-Standing Admission

Admission with full standing to a graduate degree, certificate, or Graduate Achievement Program generally requires that an applicant meets all of the following minimum requirements:

• One of the following:
  • A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution; An undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75 (4.00 scale) over a minimum of 80 graded credits, OR:
  • An average of at least 2.90 during the last half (approximately 60 credits) of the undergraduate work, OR:
  • A graduate grade-point average of at least 3.00 on an earned graduate degree (master’s or higher) from a regionally accredited U.S. institution of higher education (or equivalent).
• Background experiences as required by a particular program (e.g., a satisfactory score on an admission exam, major in a given field, teacher licensure, appropriate work experiences, etc.).

Probationary admission

Applicants who do not meet standards for full standing admission may be admitted on probation if they have an undergraduate grade-point average of at least a 2.25 (4.00 scale) over a minimum of 80 graded credits AND at least a 2.50 (4.00 scale) in their last half (approximately 60 credits) of the undergraduate work. Graduate courses are never added to any undergraduate GPA calculation. Applicants may be expected to submit additional evidence of their availability to do graduate work. This evidence may be, but not limited to, prior graduate coursework, a score on an admission test, additional letters of references, or a written appeal.

International Applicants Admission Requirements

International applicants need to:

1. Submit a graduate school application and pay the application fee
2. Submit the additional admission materials for your specific graduate program
3. Submit all the materials on the International Applicant Checklist

Admission decision will be made after all three sets of materials are received (see more).

In addition to the Graduate School Admission Requirements, the following documents need to be submitted when applying to UWO Graduate Healthcare Management Certificate:

• Essay: A brief essay of 200-500 words stating why the applicant is seeking admission to the graduate HCM Certificate program.

Note: 

If you wish to apply to both the MPA program and the graduate HCM Certificate program, you must submit two separate applications, indicating which program you are applying to. Both types of programs use the same application form. You do not need to pay the application fee of $56 if you are already admitted in the MPA or another graduate program.

• • Online application. The first step in the application process is to complete an online UW System application for admission to UW-Oshkosh.
  • Application Documents Submission: https://www.uwosh.edu/gradstudies/nextsteps/.  The admission review will not begin until all materials have been submitted.
  • Checking Application Status. The Graduate School has added a checklist to the students’ TitanWeb. This will list all of the items that a student would need in order to have their admission application complete. On the student’s TitanWeb Student Services Center home page it will list the items under their To Do list. Under details it will state if the items were received or still pending (initiated). This will allow the students to be able to check on the status of the application process. Once the admission decision has been made the checklist will be removed from the student’s TitanWeb.
  • Application Documents Review Procedures. Once the candidate’s complete application package is received from the Graduate School, MPA faculty review the documents and inform the Graduate School of the admission decision.

If you want “to test the waters” about the MPA program before you make a decision to apply for it, or if you simply want to take some MPA courses without pursuing a graduate degree, or if you are MPA alumni and want to take some additional courses, you can do so as a special student.

Please visit the Graduate School site and view information under “Non-degree seeking UWO Student.”