If your educational and professional goals are not met by one of our existing concentrations, you can work with one (or more) of our faculty advisors to design a Specialized Concentration to help accomplish your goals.
Create a concentration to advance your specific goals
How to create your Specialized Concentration
Stop in the O’Neill Records Office, room 260, to pick up and complete a form that specifies the courses that will make up your Specialized Concentration. You'll need to have this form signed by your faculty advisor and your faculty program director. You'll need to submit your completed form—and have it approved—prior to enrolling in your relevant courses.
When designing your Specialized Concentration, we encourage you to take SPEA courses whenever possible. MPA-JD and MSES-JD concentrations require a minimum of 12 credit hours. All other Specialized Concentrations involve a minimum of 18 credit hours. Although you must name your Specialized Concentration, the name will not appear on your IU transcripts—it will read "Specialized."
Specialized Concentration course cluster examples
Sample MPA Specialized Concentration
- E 542 Hazardous Materials
- M 566 Executive Leadership
- V 550 Topics in Public Affairs
- E 547 Applied Earth Science
- P 512 Public Policy Process
- R 645 Environmental Law
Sample MPA-MSES Specialized Concentration
- P 541 Benefit Cost Analysis of Public and Environmental Policies
- R 625 Environmental Economics and Policy
- R 643 Natural Resource Management and Policy
- E 455 Limnology
- E 537 Environmental Chemistry Laboratory
- BUS-K 520 Introduction to Operations Research
- BUS-K 610 Topics Mathematical Programming
Sample MPA-JD Specialized Concentration
- R 645 Environmental Law
- R 625 Environmental Economics and Policy
- E 510 Hazardous Materials Regulation
- L 564 Urban Management