Hong Kong DPPA

Institutional Structure: TO COME

Curriculum Design: The Hong Kong MPA is offered on a 2-year part-time or 1-year full-time basis. Students are required to complete eight taught courses and one capstone project or dissertation in order to graduate. The eight courses include four compulsory courses, and four courses from a list of electives. Typical students take about 52% of their course work in subjects that we classify as Tools and Skills or Management Functions and very little of their study is in economic or quantitative courses. This places the Hong Kong MPA degree in the "shorter-length, lower tools/management, lower quantitative" category, along with such programs as the Singapore LKY MPA and the Warwick MPP. The Hong Kong MPA requires a thesis. It has no internship component but does have an optional two-week live-in course on the mainland at the Chinese Academy of Governance. It has as a relatively low number of elective courses taught within the school.

Program Summary

Website: http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/programmes/tpg/mpa

University: University of Hong Kong

Location: Hong Kong, China

Degree: MPA

Marketing Approach: "As a global city, Hong Kong is undergoing major political and socioeconomic change. Our public managers and professionals are increasingly challenged by complex problems and dynamic situations. The MPA programme at HKU is designed to prepare students to become public service leaders through equipping them with the analytical and problem-solving skills to meet these challenges. We are celebrating over 35 years of excellence in providing professional education in public administration this year. With our extensive experience, internationally recognized faculty members, a vibrant student body, and well-designed curriculum, we provide a rigorous and fruitful education for those who wish to prepare themselves for a prominent career in public service." (At http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/programmes/tpg/mpa#p8023, accessed 15 February 2015.) 

Degrees Awarded per Year: TBD [Information will be requested from the School]

Academic Unit within University: The Department of Politics and Public Administration (DPPA) is a department within the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Hong Kong.The SSDPP is a school within Beijing Normal University.

Related Academic Units and Degrees: The DPPA offers a Bachelor of Social Sciences, Master of Public Administration, Master of International and Public Affairs, and Doctor of Public Administration, http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/programmes/tpg/mpa#p8023, accessed 15 February 2015). 

Posted Tuition: HK$134,000 for one year, full time (equivalent to US$17,500 at February 2015 exchange rates). At http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/programmes/tpg/mpa#requirements, accessed 15 February 2015.

Concentration/Curriculum Overview: 

MA Degree Requirements

Summary: The Master of Public Administration (MPA) Programme, first launched in 1978, is designed to provide high quality professional education to students and prepare them for leadership roles in the public sector. The curriculum is designed to achieve the following learning objectives:

1. Acquire cutting edge knowledge in public administration and public policy.
2. Understand the changing institutional and political contexts of public affairs.
3. Examine the critical issues and possible solutions to the challenges in governance.
4. Develop professional knowledge and core skills required to become effective public managers and leaders.

Distinctive programme features:

1. an optional live-in course in the Chinese Academy of Governance (國家行政學院)
2. extensive use of interactive teaching methods
3. intensive workshops conducted by distinguished international scholars
4. experience sharing with senior practitioners and professionals from the public, private and nonprofit sectors
5. simulation exercises for training various practical skills
6. opportunities for one-day shadowing with various organizations.

Duration: 1 year.

Academic Prerequisite: Applicants for admission to the MPA programme require a Bachelor's degree with honours of the University of Hong Kong, or another qualification of equivalent standard from the University of Hong Kong or from another University or comparable institution accepted for this purpose and satisfy the English language requirements of HKU. Successful applicants usually have at least three years of working experience. (At http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/programmes/tpg/mpa#requirements, accessed 15 February 2015.)

Number of One-Semester-Equivalent Courses Required for Completion: 12. See Note 1.

Note 1: Although no credit equivalents are listed for the thesis, the MA thesis requirement is appears to be to the thesis expectation for MA programs in England where the thesis is worth one third of the total degree credit.

Number of Required Courses: 8 (four courses and a thesis)

Number of Electives Typically Taken (difference between above two entries): 4

Number of Electives Offered within Program: 23 courses.

Comprehensive Examination: No

Thesis Required: Yes.

Internship Required: No

International Study Required: No

Co-curricular Activities Supportive to Degree

Professional Development and Career Support: No

Student-run Journal: No

Applied Projects: No

Pro Bono Consulting: No

Courses Offered: The full list of courses is found at http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/pages/mpa-course-descriptions-2014-15, accessed 15 February 2015.

Course Material Online: One-paragraph course descriptions but no syllabi available on the public website. 

Instructional Distribution (PEACO Profile): The table below indicates the distribution of instruction offered, based on the course assignments to subjects in the Course Map below, weighted by estimated enrolment determined by the PEACO Algorithm.   

		Hong Kong
		MPA
I. Courses Required and Offered
	Number of one-semester courses required for degree	12
	Number of required courses	8
	Number of elective courses taken	4
	Number of courses offered	22
	Enrolment weight of elective courses	0.22
II. Distribution of Courses (Enrolment-Adjusted) among Atlas
Domains and Subjects
	Tools and Skills	44.4%
	- Strategy and Structure	31.9%
	- Economic Analysis	0.0%
	- Quantitative Methods and Management Sciences	0.0%
	- Leadership, Communication, Professional Practice	12.5%
	Institutions and Context	47.2%
	- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process	41.7%
	- Ethics and Accountability	2.8%
	- Socioeconomic, Political, and Global Contexts	2.8%
	Management Functions	8.3%
	- Public Financial Management	0.0%
	- Evaluation and Performance Measurement	2.8%
	- Other Management Functions	5.6%
	Policy Sectors	0.0%
	- Fiscal, Monetary and Tax Policy	0.0%
	- International Development	0.0%
	- Health	0.0%
	- Other Policy Sectors	0.0%
	Total	100%
III. Number of Courses in "NASPAA-required Subjects" taken by
Typical Student in NASPAA Required Competency Domains
	Lead and Manage in Public Governance	3.03
	Participate and Contribute to the Policy Process	3.46
	Analyze, Synthesize, Solve Problems and Make Decisions	2.01
	Articulate and Apply Public Service Perspectives	2.83
	Communicate and Interact with Workforce and Citizenry	0.67
	Total Course Equivalents taken in Required Competencies	12.00
IV. Ratio of Courses in "NASPAA-required Subjects" taken by
Typical Student to Estimated Requirement for Competency
	Lead and Manage in Public Governance	1.69
	Participate and Contribute to the Policy Process	1.60
	Analyze, Synthesize, Solve Problems and Make Decisions	0.54
	Articulate and Apply Public Service Perspectives	1.89
	Communicate and Interact with Workforce and Citizenry	0.84
	Ratio of Total Instruction in Competencies to Amount Needed	1.20
V. Number of Microeconomics, Macroeconomics or Quantitative
Methods Courses taken by Typical Student
	Economic Analysis	0.00
	Fiscal, Monetary and Tax Policy	0.00
	Quantitative Methods	0.00
	Total	0.00
	Ratio of Quantitative Courses to Total Courses Required	0.0%
Sum of Tools and Skills and Management Functions		52.8%

Source: At http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/programmes/tpg/mpa and related sites (accessed 15 February 2015).

Page Created By: Ian Clark on 15 February 2015. Updating and editing may consist of substantive and/or formatting changes. Unless otherwise noted, however, information regarding a program's structure, curricular offerings and PEACO score is based on the program as it was on the date of page creation. The content presented on this page, except for the assignments of courses to Atlas subjects, the Instructional Distribution analysis, and the Commentary is drawn directly from the source(s) cited above, and consists of direct quotations or close paraphrases.