Throughput rate of the Master of Public Administration students at the University of South Africa from 2005-2014

Abstract

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) originated in 1909 and is offered by universities in most countries around the world. It has been written about extensively by various authors. The MPA is primarily focused on educating practicing public servants to perform their day-to-day work in a manner that is informed by a broad understanding of relevant conceptual perspectives for the work they do (McSwite, 2011:111). A critical aspect related to the success of the MPA is the throughput rate of students. The concept ‘throughput’ has earned its place in academia due to the ever-increasing turnaround time for students completing their qualification, so the question surrounding throughput is no longer “should we accommodate it”, but rather, “how do we accommodate it?” In this instance, it can be formulated as “how do we accommodate students to complete the MPA?” The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the throughput rate of MPA students at Unisa. The study includes an extensive and in-depth review of scholarly literature on the MPA qualification, as well as an analysis of the curriculum used by various higher education institutions. In addition, it includes statistical data analysis, and the researcher’s verification of the current throughput rate of the MPA qualification at Unisa. This research found that there is indeed a low throughput rate for the MPA qualification at Unisa. Although this research is specific to the Department of Public Administration and Management at Unisa, its findings pertain to any university offering the MPA.