Academic Planning and Registration

Degree Requirements

Students need 32 credit hours to graduate. Please see the USF catalog entry for MAPL for further information on required and elective courses. 

There are 7 required courses (18 units) for the MAPL degree: 

  • MPL 602 (3 credits): Writing for Public Policy
  • MPL 603 (3 credits): Quant Methods in Public Policy
  • MPL 605 (3 credits): Civil-Mil & Public Leadership
  • MPL 608 (3 credits): Public Policy Challenges
  • MPL 609 (4 credits): Capstone in Public Leadership
  • MPL 621 (1 credit): American Democracy Overview
  • MPL 623 (1 credit): Fundraising and Budgeting 

Students must take 14 units of elective courses. 

Degree Evaluation Tool

Please login to the Degree Evaluation tool with your USF student ID and password. This Dashboard will show you which required courses you have completed for MAPL and which courses you still need to take to fulfill degree requirements. 

Full-time Status

To maintain full-time student status, graduate students must be enrolled in 6+ units in the fall or spring semester. During the summer term, students must be enrolled in 4+ units to be considered full-time students. Please see the USF catalog for further information.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

All graduate students must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) throughout their program of study in order to receive Financial Aid monies and federal student aid.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will be measured at the end of every spring semester, after grades have been posted. If you are not meeting SAP, you will be notified via email and/or mail that your financial aid has been suspended. However, a student may be eligible for departmental scholarships under limited conditions.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Requirements

To remain eligible for financial aid and other university funding, you must meet the following requirements:

  • Grade Point Average (GPA)
    • Graduate (Masters and Doctorate): Minimum 3.0 Cumulative GPA
  • Completion Rate: Pass at least 67% of your attempted credits. Attempted credits are the courses you remain enrolled in after USF’s Census Date for that term (see the academic calendar). As long as you do not receive an F, I, IP, U, or W grade for that class, this counts as passing the class. If you receive an F, I, IP, U, or W grade for that class, this counts only as an attempted credit. The rate is calculated by dividing the number of successfully completed credits by the number of attempted credits.
  • Maximum Time Frame: Students must complete their degree in no more than 4 years.

Class Registration

You can register for classes online by following these step by step instructions and referring to the appropriate course map for your MAPL start date. You can always reach out to the MAPL Program Manager at mapl@usfca.edu for advising assistance.Please note the deadlines to withdraw from each class are listed in the course schedule in MyUSF. Due to the nature of the MAPL program, our drop deadlines are often slightly offset from the standard university schedule. 

Common Holds on Registration - Prior to registration, please check to see if there are any holds on your account. Common holds include:

  • Official Transcript - Resolve by asking your undergraduate institution to submit an official transcript to the Graduate Admissions office. They can be contacted at asgraduate@usfca.edu
  • Past Due Balance - There has been a payment error. Please contact the MAPL Program Manager for Scholarship questions or the USF Veterans office for GI Bill questions.

How to find your unofficial transcript: 
Current students and graduates of USF may use their myUSF account to access their unofficial transcripts.  You can also go to MyUSF > Banner Self-Service (Student) > Student Records > Academic Transcript

Academic Plans

Full-time two-year track

If you are on the full-time, 2 year track, we recommend that students take one online class (usually a 3-credit course) during every 8-week session and one in-person seminar per 16-week semester (usually a 1-credit course offered during intersession).

View a sample course map for this full-time track

Accelerated one-year track

If you are on an accelerated, 1 year track, we recommend that students take two online classes (usually 3-credit courses) during every 8-week session and at least one in-person seminar per 16 week semester (usually a 1-credit course offered during intersession).

View a sample course map for this accelerated track

Academic Plans by Semester

The academic plans below are standardized depending on the time of enrollment. Students can build their own customized plans with the input of their instructors, the Program Manager, and the Administrative Director. If this applies to you, the file would be titled “Academic Plan - LastName” and shared with you via Google Sheets.

Typically, required 3-credit courses are offered in the Fall (A) and Spring (A) terms while elective 3-credit courses are offered in the Fall (B), Spring (B), and Summer terms. 
The October, March, and June intersessions include the in-person components of 3-credit classes in addition to the opportunity to take a 1-credit weekend long class. One-credit courses are also offered at the beginning of the Spring and Fall semesters.

Fall Semester

August Intersession 1-credit 2-day in-person course offered
Fall (A) Session (Aug-Oct) Required 3-credit 8-week courses offered
October Intersession

Required in-person components to 3-credit courses

1-credit 2-day in-person course offered
Fall (B) Session (Oct-Dec) Elective 3-credit 8-week courses offered

Spring Semester

August Intersession 1-credit 2-day in-person course offered
Spring (A) Session (Jan-Mar) Required 3-credit 8-week courses offered
March Intersession

Required in-person components to 3-credit courses

1-credit 2-day in-person course offered
Spring (B) Session (Mar-May) Elective 3-credit 8-week courses offered

Summer Term

June Intersession

Required in-person components to 3-credit courses

1-credit 2-day in-person course offered
Summer Session (Jun-Aug) Elective 3-credit 8-week courses offered