Master of Public Affairs

The Nonprofit Management Concentration

Are you working for a nonprofit agency, or are you interested in starting a career in the nonprofit sector?

The UNCG MPA program has a nonprofit concentration in the MPA curriculum to offer an academic foundation to those students developing nonprofit management careers. It allows students to take a cluster of 15 hours in courses related to nonprofit management and programs in the nonprofit sector in addition to the MPA core requirements.

The concentration is designed to give students an overview of the nonprofit field and to develop specific skills and program knowledge to meet a variety of needs. A major advantage of the concentration is that students will be well-grounded in public management and policy for the many positions in the nonprofit sector that depend on government funding, support, and collaboration. Students will also have the flexibility to select additional courses from among MPA and other graduate program offerings.

The required courses in the nonprofit concentration include:

  • Nonprofit Management and Leadership
  • Philanthropy and Resource Development
and at least three of four one-hour courses:
  • Grantwriting
  • Nonprofit Financial Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Marketing for Public and Nonprofit Agencies
Other relevant one-hour courses may be selected:
  • Oral Communication Skills
  • Computer Skills
  • Legislative Relations
  • Volunteer Management
  • Nonprofit Budgeting
Three-hour courses include these MPA options:
  • Human Resource Development and Performance Management
  • Community and Economic Development Theory andPractice
  • Environmental Policy
  • Ethics in Public Policy
Additional approved courses can be taken in other departments on campus, such as Social Work, Human Development and Family Studies, Business Administration, Counseling, Sociology, and Public Health Education. These courses include:
  • Social Agency Program Development
  • Social Work for Families in Crisis
  • Social Services for the Aging
  • Health Policy
  • Health Program Evaluation
  • Community Health
  • Gerontology
  • Helping Relationships
  • Juvenile Delinquency
  • Urban Sociology
  • Child and Family Ecology
  • Strategies for Managing Human Resources

Students who do not have prior professional work experience in a nonprofit agency will be required to obtain an internship and enroll in PSC 695 and 696, in addition to the 15 hours of coursework.