Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions is now accepting applications for those who want to simultaneously earn two master’s degrees.
“We want to train people who are going to go out and work and make a difference in the world,” said the program director Spiro Maroulis.
Maroulis oversees the Master of Public Policy (MPP) and the Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs.
He said in a meeting Thursday that students have the option to use the accelerated 4+1 plan to achieve a master’s degree in only one year after a bachelor’s degree. But now students can also choose to get both the MPP and the MPA with 20% of the courses overlapping.
Maroulis talked about several immersive opportunities like the Sackton and the Marvin Andrews fellowships that grant discounted tuition, scholarships and send students to choice internships such as city management.
Stephanie Valerio Zamora is a second-year Marvin Andrews fellow. She urges students to learn about this fellowship opportunity if they are even considering the degree program because “it is truly life-changing,” she said.
Zamora was able to go to Portland for an educational convention. She said she is most grateful to have worked with executives because making connections early is really how the magic starts in this career path.
“We’re closest to the people. We affect their everyday lives and that’s where I want to dedicate myself,” Zamora said.
LaTisha Gilmore is also a second-year fellow. She has worked with the U.S. Department of Justice and local indigenous tribes. Now she has two job positions in non-profits along her full-time course load.
“I feel like I’ve grown as a person just in this short amount of time,” Gilmore said.
The U.S. News & World Report ranked the college in 13th place out of all the American public affairs colleges. It has eight research centers dedicated to “the public good,” as Maroulis put it.
Maroulis indicated that most of the classes are after 4:30 p.m. because most of the students have day jobs.
“We view that as a community and not just as a professional program,” he said.
Maroulis said there are intensive classes for certain credits that offer few sessions per semester held for eight hours on Saturdays. Otherwise, the entire MPA program and most of the MPP can be done online.
He showed that these programs consist of 42 credit hours each, or 15 credit hours per set of certification courses.
At the end of the session, Maroulis shared the important dates. Most Watts College scholarships and grant deadlines are March 1. The Marvin Andrews Fellowship application is due March 4.
Anyone seeking further information about the Watts College programs can contact Alfred Nunez, who directs student recruitment, at Alfred.Nunez@asu.edu or (602) 496-2513.
Contact the reporter at hanzukc@gmail.com.
