The School of Public Affairs and the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law jointly sponsor a dual degree program leading to the simultaneous granting of the master of public administration (MPA) and juris doctor (JD) degrees. The program may be of particular interest to students who wish to practice law within the public sector, obtain a senior administrative post, represent public-sector clients, represent private-sector clients in transactions with government agencies and institutions and/or develop scholarly expertise in the relationship between law and public administration.

Interested persons must separately apply to and be admitted by both SPA and the School of Law. Upon admission, students may begin full-time study at either SPA or the School of Law; however, law study must be initiated no later than the beginning of the second year of enrollment in the program, and the first year of law study must be taken in its entirety and exclusive of nonlaw course work.

Through the choice of electives, students may develop a limited substantive specialization within the study of law and public administration. The dual degree program is structured to allow for 12 semester hours from the law school to be accepted as electives in the 36-semester-hour MPA program, and 12 semester hours from SPA to be accepted into the law school’s 89-semester-hour JD program. Students are thus simultaneously awarded both degrees with a cumulative total of 101 semester hours; the program therefore allows students to complete all dual degree requirements in approximately four years of full-time study. Students without prior public-sector work experience will be required to complete an internship in an appropriate governmental institution or closely related nonprofit organization.