Course Syllabus

O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

SPCN-F560 Public Finance and Budgeting (Section 14017)

Fall Semester, 2026

COURSE DESCRIPTION

SPCN-F560 Public Finance and Budgeting (3 cr.) The fiscal role of government in a mixed economy; sources of public revenue and credit; administrative, political, and institutional aspects of the budget and the budgetary process; problems and trends in intergovernmental fiscal relations.

The course is broad and will cover the roles of government in public finance; major revenue systems and credit policies and sources; characteristics of federal, state and local budgeting; basics of fiscal analysis; concepts and terminology in financial reporting; and capital budgeting, debt issuance, debt management, and trends and challenges in intergovernmental fiscal relations.        

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of this course, a student should be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to analyze the fiscal and governance challenges of a state/local/nonprofit organization through discussions, group assignments and the final paper.
• Demonstrate the ability to analyze the impact of political, economic and organizational factors on budgetary decision-making through case study assignments and the final paper.
• Demonstrate the ability to utilize spreadsheets to conduct budget and financial statement analysis.
• Demonstrate understanding of professional and ethical values in case studies and online discussion.
• Demonstrate understanding of the relationship between the global financial market and the U.S. fiscal policies in case study assignments.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

Mikesell, John L. 2025. Fiscal Administration: Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector, 11th edition. Thomson Wadsworth: Belmont, CA.

Wang, XiaoHu 2014. Financial Management in the Public Sector: Tools, Applications, and Cases, 3rd Edition. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.