2022-2023 Graduate Bulletin

Law and Public Accountability, MPA/JD

Program Coordinator: Professor Daniel Feldman

John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY School of Law offer the MPA/JD in Law and Public Accountability, which offers qualified students the opportunity to earn both a Master of Public Administration in Inspection and Oversight and a Juris Doctor degree in Law.

The MPA/JD Dual Degree Program capitalizes on CUNY Law School’s renowned expertise in Public Service and Public Interest Law with John Jay College’s unique and highly acclaimed MPA program that deals with investigation of waste fraud and abuse in public and publicly regulated services. The dual-degree program prepares lawyers who will be uniquely trained for inspection and oversight functions, as practitioners, policy makers, and legal scholars.

Degree Requirements

The dual degree will require a combined total of 128 credits, including 42 credits for the completion of the Inspection and Oversight MPA program at John Jay College and 86 credits for the completion of the JD program at CUNY Law School. However, 12 CUNY Law School credits related to criminal and investigative law will be credited towards both the JD and MPA programs. Likewise, 12 credits from the Inspection and Oversight MPA program, involving legal issues and cases, will also be credited to the CUNY Law School JD program. Consequently, due to the 24 shared credits in the dual degree program, the actual number of credits taken will be 104, resulting in graduation for full-time students in four years instead of five.

Inspection and Oversight MPA Requirements

Core Requirements

PAD 700Public Administration

3

PAD 706Bureaupathology

3

PAD 723Assessments, Audits and Investigations in Human Resources

3

PAD 740Public Sector Inspection and Oversight

3

PAD 742Public Sector Accounting and Auditing

3

PAD 758Ethics, Integrity and Accountability

3

PAD 771Capstone Seminar

3

Total Credit Hours:21

Research Methods and Quantitative Skills

Select One Research Methods Course:

PAD 715Research Methods in Public Administration

3

ACC 715Analytical Methods in Inspection and Oversight

3

Select One Quantitative Methods/Information Management Course:

PAD 713Management of Information Technology

3

PAD 745Program Development and Evaluation

3

PAD 747/CRJ 747Computer Applications in Public Policy and Management

3

PAD 770Cases and Techniques in Quantitative Policy Analysis

3

Total Credit Hours:6

Elective

Students may select any graduate-level PAD course to satisfy the elective requirement. However, no course used to satisfy another MPA program requirement can be used to satisfy the elective requirement as well. 

Total Credit Hours:3
 TOTAL CREDIT HOURS: 30

CUNY Law School J.D. Requirements

The following program requirements are based on the current requirements of the CUNY Law School J.D. program, which are subject to change. In the event that CUNY Law School changes its J.D. program requirements, the requirements of the dual-degree degree program would be modified accordingly. 

Please visit http://www.law.cuny.edu for more information about the CUNY Law School curriculum.

First Year Courses

 Civil Procedure 3
 Contracts I 3
 Contracts II 3
 Criminal Law 3
 Law and Family Relations 3
 Lawyering Seminar I 3
 Lawyering Seminar II 3
 Legal Research 3
 Liberty, Equality, and Due Process 3
 Torts 3

Total Credit Hours:30

Second and Third Year Courses

 Public Institutions (Administrative Law)
 Constitutional Structures
 Evidence
 Property
 Lawyering Seminar III
 Professional Responsibility
 Core Doctrine/Applied Legal Analysis (ALA)
Total Credit Hours:25

Clinic or Practicum

 Equality and Justice  12
 Health Law 12
 Family Law 12
 Community Economic Development 12
 Criminal Defenders 12
 Mediation 12
 Human Rights and Gender Justice I and II 16
 Immigration and Non-Citizens’ Rights I and II 16
Total Credit Hours:12-16

Bar Elective J.D. Courses

Students must choose additional elective law school courses in administrative law, externship and clinic settings, constitutional law, criminal law, history, philosophy, sociology and theory of law, international law, professional skills, public interest law, and tort law.

Course offerings vary somewhat from semester to semester. The full list of course offerings is available online through the CUNYfirst course registration system.

    Credit hours vary based on electives chosen
 TOTAL CREDIT HOURS: 74+