Master of Public Administration MPA/PGDip

Program Overview

The MPA program empowers students to tackle complex societal issues as leaders in public administration, equipping them with expertise in governance, leadership, policy analysis, and public management. Graduates pursue careers in government, NGOs, and consultancy, addressing critical issues affecting communities worldwide. The program includes core modules in public sector management and governance, along with optional modules allowing for specialization.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

A career in public administration is a demanding but extremely rewarding way to improve the lives of the people around you. It's about finding solutions to complex societal challenges and organizing the implementation of these solutions through policies. If you consider yourself to be a leader who's not afraid to challenge existing methods and act as a representative of the public, our MPA is for you. It's an internationally recognized qualification to equip you with skills and knowledge of:

• governance
• leadership
• strategy
• public organization and management
• managing people
• public sector economics
• public finance and accounting
• public policy processes
You could end up working for the government, in NGOs or consultancy, looking at major issues affecting the population such as climate change, food and water supplies, public health, and national security.

Outline:

Across the autumn and spring semesters, you will take 120 credits of core and optional modules. You will choose 20 credits of optional modules, subject to approval. Dissertation You will complete a 60-credit dissertation over the summer, and an appropriate dissertation supervisor will oversee your progress. Previous topics have included:

• Managing people in the public sector: recruitment and staff training
• Impact of privatisation in the NHS on quality of care
• Public procurement and corruption in Philippines
• Central and local government interaction in budgetary process in Kazakhstan
• Electoral systems/democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwan
• China's monitoring system to deal with corruption of civil servants

Modules:

Core modules

• Leadership, Strategy and Performance in the Public Sector
• Managing People in the Public Sector
• Policy Analysis: Concepts and Theories
• Public Management and Governance
• Public Sector Financial Management
• Research Methods and Research Management
• Dissertation in Public Administration (MPA only)

Optional modules

• Dynamics of International Social Policy
• Economics and Policy Analysis
• Globalisation, Europeanisation and Public Policy
• International Organisations and Global Governance
• State, Business and Civil Society: Policy Decisions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
• Welfare Policy

Assessment:

Modules are typically assessed based on various forms of coursework.

Teaching:

You will typically have one weekly two-hour lecture, and one weekly hour-long seminar, for each module over a 10-week teaching semester. Most students take three or four modules each semester. Each 10 credits represent approximately 100 hours of work, and for each module, approximately 30 hours will be taught.

Careers:

Recent graduates have pursued careers in the public and voluntary sectors as managers and policy analysts. The MPA is rapidly becoming a standard global qualification for public servants.

• Stonewall
• Youth Movement for Reform Judaism and Zionism
• Nottingham Labour Party
• Ministry of Justice
• Mitsubishi
• Sky
• Taylor Wessing

Other:

• 89% of our research ranked as world-leading or internationally excellent

Qualification

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• --|---|---

MA

|£11,850|£28,600

PGDip

|£7,900|£19,067