Portland-State-University 2024-2025 Bulletin

Urban and Public Affairs B.A./B.S.

The Urban & Public Affairs B.S./B.A. degree is an interdisciplinary program designed for students interested in tailoring their education to suit their broad interests in public affairs, policy, and service. Through this flexible degree, students develop a broad, versatile skill set that helps them stand out in the job market for their ability to draw connections, see the big picture, and identify effective solutions to challenging public policy problems. Urban & Public Affairs students choose from coursework in the following subjects: Economics, Criminology & Criminal Justice, International & Global Studies, Public Administration (Civil Leadership), Political Science, Public Health, and Urban Studies & Planning.

Program Requirements

The UPA B.A./B.S. degree requires students to complete 56 credits distributed as follows: choose 6 courses (24 credits) from the list of required courses, choose 6 courses (24 credits) from the list of electives, choose 1 research skills course (4 credits), and complete UPA 425 Urban & Public Affairs Seminar (4 credits).

Students must receive a "C-" or better in all required coursework. At least 24 of the required 56 credits must be taken at PSU.

Required courses (24 credits)

Students must complete 6 courses representing at least 2 of the 7 academic disciplines (CCJ, PA, PS, USP, PHE, Ec, and Intl) listed below:

CCJ 200Criminology and Criminal Justice

4

CCJ 320UTheories of Crime & Justice

4

CCJ 330UCrime Control Strategies

4

PA 311UIntroduction to Civic Engagement

4

PA 312UFoundations of Community Leadership

4

PA 313UFundamentals of Public Service

4

 

PS 101United States Government

4

or

PS 102United States Politics

4

 

PS 204Comparative Politics

4

PS 205International Politics

4

PS 431State and Local Politics

4

USP 300UIntroduction to Urban Studies

4

USP 301UIntroduction to Community Development

4

USP 313UUrban Environmental Issues

4

PHE 350Health and Health Systems

4

PHE 446UHealth Equity and Social Justice

4

PHE 250Our Community: Our Health

4

Ec 201Principles of Microeconomics

4

Ec 202Principles of Macroeconomics

4

Ec 316UIntroduction to Health Care Economics

4

Ec 332UEconomics of Environmental Issues

4

Intl 201Introduction to International Studies

4

Intl 202The United States and the World

4

Intl 203International Development Strategies

4

Elective courses (24 credits)

Choose 6 courses from CCJ, PA, PS, USP, PHE, Ec, Intl, or UPA. Five elective courses (20 credits) must be upper-division (300- or 400-level) courses and one course (4 credits) may be either upper or lower division.

Research skills course (4 credits)

Complete one pre-identified and approved research methods, statistics, or data analysis course from any of the participating academic units.
CCJ 336Applied Crime Mapping

4

CCJ 340Crime Analysis

4

CCJ 380Criminal Justice Research

4

Ec 469Applied Econometrics

4

PS 491Testing Theories in Political Science

4

USP 430Participatory Research Methods

4

USP 440Critical Analysis of Community Data

4

USP 436Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Urban Studies and Planning

4

Urban & Public Affairs Seminar (4 credits)

UPA 425Urban and Public Affairs Seminar

4

Total Credit Hours: 56