2023-2024 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog [Archived Catalog]
Master of Public and International Affairs/MBA
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Joint Degree
Full-time GSPIA students in the MPA, MPIA, or MID programs may pursue two graduate degrees simultaneously, through GSPIA’s partnerships with other professional schools at the University of Pittsburgh (and two foreign universities). Joint programs reduce the number of credits needed for each degree, allowing students to earn two master’s degrees in just three years, or a master’s degree and a law degree in just four years.
To participate in a joint degree program, students apply separately to both schools, and must meet all of the usual admissions requirements. Those applying to the joint JD program with the University of Pittsburgh School of Law may submit an LSAT score as a substitute for GSPIA’s GRE requirement. Those applying to the joint MBA program may submit the GMAT as a substitute for the GRE. If admitted to both schools, students spend one full year in GSPIA followed by a second full year in the other program (or vice versa). During the third and/or fourth year, they spend a minimum of one additional term in GSPIA, earning a total of 36 GSPIA credits.
Although it is possible to apply to both schools at the same time, currently enrolled students may still apply for a joint degree as long as they have not yet completed one year (or, in the case of current law students, two years) of full-time study.
Master of Public & International Affairs and Master of Business Administration
For MPIA and MID students only: Combining a GSPIA degree with an MBA opens many opportunities for a career in international finance, government financial regulation, or multinational corporations. Students with both degrees are highly marketable in the fields of international business and international economic policy.
Note
Joint-degree students take a minimum of 36 credits and must have 3 terms of GSPIA residency. Students must graduate from both schools at the same time. No course may be double-counted. Any course taken to fulfill a requirement for the degree in one program cannot also count toward the degree in the other program. Joint degree students should contact their GSPIA Graduate Enrollment Counselor once a term for advising. Graduate Enrollment Counselors advise for GSPIA programs only. Joint degree students must meet with an advisor from both schools.
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Requirements for the joint degree MPIA/MBA
Student is required to take one of the following depending on major:
If SIS major: PIA 2303 Security & Intelligence Studies
If IPE major: PIA 2301 International Political Economy
If HS major: PIA 2307 Human Security
GSPIA Core Requirements: 12 credits
Degree Core Courses: 6 credits
One of the following based on major:
Concentration Courses: 12 credits
(see Concentration-Specific requirements)
Minimum Required GSPIA Credits: 36 credits
Master of Business Administration requirements: 33
The following core courses are required of all full-time MBA students:
Accelerated MBA, Signature MA, Part-Time MBA and Dual-Degree MBA/MS programs; MBA with Business Analytics students also complete the MBA Core Curriculum with additional credits required from business analytics curriculum. Joint-Degree MBA students also complete the MBA Core Curriculum, with some exceptions.
MBA Professional Courses
In addition to the MBA Core Curriculum, MBA students also complete “professional” coursework:
- Quant Methods for Business
- Programming for Business
- Business Communications
The content of these courses is designed to accelerate a students’ academic and personal development as a business professional. The timing, delivery, and credit-load may vary by program (i.e. Accelerated v. Signature v. Part-Time MBA). Any credits earned count toward the minimum 45-credits required for the MBA degree.
Total Number of Credits for Joint Degree: 69
Concentration Specific Requirements:
Because the globalization process has made the world seem exponentially smaller, threats from tsunamis, earthquakes, disease and starvation are arriving faster and in more dramatic fashion than ever before. One of the most innovative, forward-thinking disciplines in international affairs today, the human security major covers a wide swath of issues critical to the safety of people worldwide.
GSPIA’s program, one of the first of its kind in the United States, emphasizes the development of peacekeeping and peace-building skills. Students study threats to individuals from nongovernmental, nonmilitary sources. Examples of threats include civil wars, international migration and crime, global climate changes and natural disasters. We teach students to focus on the human condition as a planet, resulting in a new generation of leaders able to guide our global community through some of the most perilous times is has ever experienced.
Concentration Specific Requirements:
From the Euro to the yen, today’s global economy operates in a climate of change. The international global political economy (IPE) major teaches students to understand globalization and the role the state plays, as well as market strategies for corporations and their corporate identities. Courses target competencies in finance, economics, international trade and development. Specific topics range from the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to political climates in post-Communist states and the role of women in developing countries.
GSPIA IPE students are idealistic, curious about the world and eager to put their vision into practice. Recent IPE graduates include a treasury expert with the Republic of Turkey, a project manager specialist for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Mission in Moscow, a presidential management fellow with the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a United Nations Fulbright Fellow with the Department of Social and Economic Affairs.
International Political Economy
- PIA 2xxx - Approved IPE Concentration Course
- PIA 2xxx - Approved IPE Concentration Course
- PIA 2xxx - Approved IPE Concentration Course
- PIA 2xxx - Approved IPE Concentration Course
Concentration Specific Requirements:
The post-9/11 world has brought remarkable change to national and international security. Issues of strategy, weapons systems, national defense and the role of government are being redefined every day. GSPIA’s major in security & intelligence studies (SIS) approaches issues within an international context and covers a variety of topics including transnational organized crime, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and competition for natural resources.
SIS students are interested in the use of technology, investigation and discovery and often have a desire to travel internationally. Our program prepares students for careers in the security or intelligence fields with various think tanks or intelligence agencies, such as the FBI or CIA.
Security & Intelligence Studies
- PIA 2xxx - Approved SIS Concentration Course
- PIA 2xxx - Approved SIS Concentration Course
- PIA 2xxx - Approved SIS Concentration Course
- PIA 2xxx - Approved SIS Concentration Course
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