• All of these programs have a two-step application process. The first step is the Application to the Pathway. The requirements to apply to the Pathway are:
  • Minimum 3.5 UGA GPA
  • Minimum 60 hours in-progress with at least 30 hours of UGA coursework (excluding AP, IB, or transfer credits)
  • 9 hours of major coursework completed or in-progress
• Once those requirements are met, an interested student submits an application to Paul Welch in 103 Candler Hall for initial eligibility review. Eligible applications are forwarded to the Double Dawg Coordinator of the graduate program for approval. Admission to the Pathway does not imply admission to the graduate program. The Pathway allows students to take graduate courses and the graduate program to test the student.
• Accepted Pathway students begin graduate coursework as early as the fall term of the third year. 12 hours of graduate coursework applies towards both degrees, but only as general electives for the A.B. Graduate courses may not apply towards undergraduate major requirements. Students may take more than 12 hours of graduate courses before graduating with the A.B., but those credit hours beyond the 12 apply to the graduate program only. Students must graduate with the A.B. at the end of their fourth year.
• SPIA will host further events with information specific to each graduate Double Dawgs program covering in-depth descriptions of the academics of each graduate program, differences in the Pathway, and time-lines for application to the Graduate School. There will also be information available via https://spia.uga.edu in the near future.
• SPIA Double Dawgs Program Contacts:
  • Eligibility and A.B. Questions: Paul Welch [email protected]
  • Double Dawg Coordinators:
    • MPA Programmatic Questions: Aaron Redman [email protected]

The Criminal Justice Studies Program at UGA is an inter-disciplinary undergraduate program jointly offered by the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public and International Affairs. It provides students with a strong liberal arts education, with students completing coursework in theory and research methods alongside specialized courses in criminal justice topics from psychology, sociology, and political science. Students also participate in a semester-long internship with a criminal justice agency.

The Master of Public Administration is designed to develop professionals who can use their educational expertise to work productively at all levels of public sector management as well as in research. This makes it an ideal graduate program for the criminal justice major.

The MPA program requires 41 credit hours including a public management core, a research methods sequence, and a cognate of elective courses which can be shaped into an area of specialization or offer a generalist approach. More information on the MPA program and requirements can be found at the program website.

Double Dawgs students begin their MPA coursework with PADP 6910 “Public Administration and Democracy” no later than the second term of their third year. They continue with two additional Public Management Core classes in the first term of the fourth year and at least PADP 7110 “Research Methods in Public Administration” in the second term of the fourth year. Ideally, Double Dawgs students will also take two additional MPA courses in their final term of undergraduate studies.

Double Dawgs students apply to the Graduate School for admission to the graduate program in the first term of the fourth year.

Sample timelines for Double Dawgs in this program may be found here. These are only samples. Individual students’ timelines will vary, so it is important to plan in consultation with both the undergraduate and graduate program advisors for any Double Dawgs program.