Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management

Welcome to the Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management degree program!

Please read this degree guide prior to registering.

Your Degree Program

The Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management is offered as an Honours degree requiring 20.0 credits and normally four years of full-time study to complete. The curriculum combines breadth in the interdisciplinary study of public affairs through a selection of courses in economics, political science, law, history, and business, with a rigorous core of policy studies exclusive to the degree. At the end of the first year of the program, students will choose one of the following areas of specialization:

• Communication and Policy Studies (Communication Technologies and Regulation, Strategic Public Opinion)
• Development Policy Studies (Rights and Human Development, Global Economic Relations, Indigenous Policy)
• International Policy Studies (International Relations and Conflict, Security and Intelligence)
• Public Policy and Administration (Social Policy, Economic Policy, Environmental and Sustainable Energy Policy, Indigenous Policy)

If you are arriving at Carleton with credits granted on admission from your previous university or college, or from Advanced Placement or an International Baccalaureate, you will need to choose your courses with the help of the faculty advisor for the BPAPM. Contact the BPAPM program administrator immediately upon admission and do not attempt to register until your courses have been approved.

Courses Required for the First Year

• Policy: Analysis, Implementation, and Evaluation PAPM 1001 [0.5]
• Canadian Political Institutions PSCI 2003 [0.5]
• Introduction to Economics: Microeconomics ECON 1001 [0.5]
• Introduction to Economics: Macroeconomics ECON 1002 [0.5]
• 0.5 credit Political Science Either PSCI 2002 [0.5] or PSCI 2101 [0.5] or PSCI 2102 [0.5]
• 0.5 credit from either INDG 1010 [0.5] or INDG 1011 [0.5]
• 1.0 credit from:
  • HIST 1003 [0.5]
  • HIST 1004 [0.5]
  • HIST 1301 [0.5]
  • HIST 1302 [0.5]
  • HIST 1701 [0.5]
  • HIST 1702 [0.5]
  • HIST 2301 [0.5]
  • HIST 2311 [0.5]
• 1.0 credit free elective**

**Students should consider completing FREN 1100 [1.0] as their free elective in their first year. Prior to graduation, students must satisfy a French language proficiency requirement by completing one of the following: successfully completing an approved French course (FREN 1100 [1.0]); successfully completing the DELF B1 exam; or by placement at a demonstrated competency level equivalent to FREN 1100 following a self-assessment questionnaire and interview administered by the Department of French.

Students are required to take a French placement test prior to registering in a French course. For more information please visit https://carleton.ca/french/undergraduate. Students who lack the proficiency to take FREN 1100 [1.0] may be required to take FREN 1001 [1.0] followed by FREN 1002 [1.0] followed by FREN 1100 [1.0]. This will be determined by taking the placement test.

• Note that the Specialization in International Policy Studies requires 2.0 credits of language.
• BPAPM students are not required to register in a first-year seminar; however, if you are not taking a French credit this year, you may be eligible to register in a first-year seminar as a free elective.