For Journalists:
The School of Public Affairs is a resource for journalists seeking analysis and commentary on issues of public, nonprofit, criminology, and criminal justice policy and management. We encourage journalists to contact our communications director, Diane Carman, at 303-902-6431 or call the 24 hour media pager at 303-266-2608 for more information or to request interviews and/or commentary. To search our expertise list, click here.
History of SPA
The School of Public Affairs began as part of the University of Colorado Boulder’s political science department. Leo Reithmayer, who joined the faculty in Boulder in 1946, became director of the graduate program in public administration in 1947 and was the founder of the School of Public Affairs.
The school began offering courses in Denver and Colorado Springs in the 1960s, and its headquarters moved to the Denver campus in the 1970s. It is the only accredited public affairs program in Colorado and is in the top 12 percent nationally by U.S. News & World Report.
Statistics
Students:
Undergraduate: 200
Graduate: 419
Ph.D.: 42
Faculty:
Full time: 22 on the Denver campus; 9 in Colorado Springs
Alumni:
Approximately 4,000 nationwide
Locations
1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 500
Denver, CO 80217-3364
1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Western Slope MPA Program
Mesa State College
Grand Junction, CO
Online Masters of Public Administration degree available
Degree programs
- Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice
- Master of Public Administration (optional concentrations in local government, environmental policy, management and law, domestic violence, nonprofit management, emergency management and homeland security)
- Executive and accelerated MPA options
- Interdisciplinary certificate in emergency management
- Master of Criminal Justice (optional concentration in domestic violence)
- Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs (optional concentration in homeland security)
Dual Degree Programs
- MPA/JD (in collaboration with the School of Law in Boulder)
- MPA/MURP (in collaboration with the School of Architecture and Planning in Denver)
- MPA/MA in Economics (in collaboration with the School of Economics)
Accreditation
National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration
Institutes and Centers
SPA Video Archives:
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act: Colorado Impact
Orientation to Online Classes
Capstone Orientation
Environmental Careers Panel
Careers Outside the Classroom in Education Policy & Management
SPA Orientation, August 13, 2009
Colorado State Employment Panel
Local Government Panel
Spring 2009 Open House and Orientation
Presidential Management Fellows Presentation
Foreign Service Info Session