Standard 4 Matching Operations with the Mission: Serving Students

4.1 Student Recruitment

The Program will have student recruitment practices appropriate for its mission.

Describe the Program’s recruiting efforts. How do these recruiting efforts reflect your program’s mission? Demonstrate that your program communicates the cost of attaining the degree. (Limit 250 words)

4.1.1 Program Recruitment

The mission of the SUFE MPA program is to provide a high-quality program for students with pubic values, knowledge, and skills to become effective public leaders at various levels of governments. When recruiting students to the MPA program, SUFE seeks applicants who have demonstrated their leadership potential and commitment to public service through their academic and professional preparations.

To ensure a diverse pool of highly qualified students, SUFE uses four methods of formal andinformal recruiting methods recruiting activities:

  1. The MPA website( with its constant updates, is an excellent method to recruit students from across the country.
  2. A second way to advance our recruitment efforts is through participating in the SUFE Graduate School’s national and regional recruitingefforts.
  3. We also use social media to cast a wide net in our prospective student pool. We designed the WeChat and Weibo, Chinese versions of Facebook and Twitter, respectively, in 2015 and use the alumni network to diffuse our advertisements via these social medias.
  4. Finally, due to the strong reputation of SUFE and its MPA program, over the years we have been established partnerships with publicagencies, such as Shanghai Municipal Taxation Bureau and Shanghai Municipal Young League, just to name a few. These agencies recommend their exemplary employees and reserve cadres apply for the SUFE MPA program. As a result, SUFE is ranked number one nationally in terms of the average score of admitted students over the last two years (2014–2015).

Figure 4.1 reports the numbers of applications, admissions, and enrollments for the SUFE MPA program in the period of AY2010–AY2014. As depicted, 2525 applicants selected SUFE to advance their knowledge and skills and about25% of them were admitted into the MPA Program. In terms of the average score of the national joint exam for the MPA program, we have been ranked number one in the country in two consecutive years (2014 and 2015). In summary, these numbers indicate our MPA program is very competitive.

Please note that starting from 2011 the Diploma Committee of the State Council split MPA prospective students into two categories: MPA degree seeking only, who are only admitted in spring, and MPA degree seeking with a graduate certificate, who are admitted in fall. The MOE ranks each university based on the average score of enrolled students in the previous year’s MPA national entrance tests. The higher the universityranking is, the larger the quota of spring enrollments. In contrast, the quota of fall enrollments of the MPA program is decided by SUFE, with a number ranging from 30 to 45 over the last five years.[1]

Prospective students are informed of the cost of attaining the degree through the SUFE MPA website. Our official MPA website ( explicitly lists the program cost (for example, for the year 2015). Secondly, the webpage for the Admission Information clearly states the related costs to attend the Program. Finally, below the tab “Prospective Students,” we also list the two-dimensional codes of the SUFE MPA program for WeChat and Weibo, so students can have easy access to our latest updates, including tuition fees, with their cell phones.

Compared to some other MPA programs in Shanghai, the tuition of SUFE program is at the middle level. For example, in 2014 our tuition was 40,000 RMB for the complete degree program, which is equivalent to 6,205 U.S. dollars.[2]In contrast, the costs of completing the MPA program at neighboring Fudan University and Tongji University are about 52,000RMB and 50,000RMB respectively. And according to national MPA program ranking based on the average score of admitted MPA students, SUFE was ranked No.1in 2014 and 2015 while Fudan University and Tongji Universitywere ranked 3rd and 8th respectively in the same year. [3] In this sense, a high-quality program with a reasonable expense itself is an excellent advertisement for our MPA program.

4.2 Student Admissions

The Program will have and apply well-defined admission criteria appropriate for its mission.

4.2.1a Admissions Criteria and Mission

Our admission policies and practices are directed to enroll a high-caliber student population into our program. This is a reflection of the SUFE MPA program’s mission to make students become effective public leaders and managers at regional and local governments in the context of China’s rapid economic and social development and deepening process of globalization.

For example, our admission policies set a minimum three years of working experience for prospective students, require a bachelor’s degree or above, and require a recommendation letter from a human resource department. We make no exceptions to the above three admission criteria.

Our program strived to select the best students based on national examand face-to-face interviews. Each applicant, regardless of whether they are admitted in spring or fall, has to experience two rounds of examinations. First they have to attend a national MPA entrance exam, which is organized every October and May. Their scores are collected and ranked by the SUFE Graduate School. With n quota designated by first the Diploma Committee of the State Council and then the Graduate School of SUFE, a number of n * 1.2 students are provided opportunities for the next round of exams. Students who enter into the second round of exams are required to come to the SUFE campus at the same designated time and both take a written essay exam and sit in face-to-face interviews with a group of core MPA faculties.

Different from national exams which test students’ academic preparations, the second round of exams pays more attention to applicants’ public values, commitment to public services, and leadership. To ensure transparency, the SUFE MPA Administration Office records and maintains accurate records of the minutes from each interview. The summed score of the national entrance exam and the SUFE exam with 1:1 weighting determines who will be offered the opportunity of becoming a member of the SUFE MPA. The list of finalists who are ranked as the top n students, where n is the designated quota by the MOE for spring admission or SUFE for fall admission, is publicized and overseen by the SUFE Graduate School.

4.2.1b Exceptions to Admissions Criteria

As noted in the previous section, there are no exceptions to the college degree prerequisite, working experience, and approval of applicants’ working organization criteria. But, in order to give each applicant an equal chance to be accepted into our program we do consider specific circumstances if the applicant does not make it to the face-to-face interview at the designated time and location—in such situations, our MPA program will give them another chance.

For example, in 2012 spring, an outstanding female applicant who was working in Fengxian District in Shanghai was likely to give birth around the day of the unified oral interview. After this was reported to and approved by the SUFE Graduate School, we gave her the second round of exams two weeks later at her home, videotaping the whole process. She was admitted to our program given the high ranking. She turned out to excel in the program. She qualified and graduated in 2014 spring with the title of “Outstanding MPA Student,” which is only granted to the top 10% of enrolled students.

4.2.1c Admissions Criteria (check all that apply)

4.2.2a Please provide the following application, admission, and enrollment data for the Self Study Year (SSY):

Total SSY Applicants (2014 fall+2015 spring) / 347
Total SSY Admits / 160
Total SSY Enrollments / 160
Fall SSY Total Full Admissions / 30
Fall SSY Total Conditional Admissions / 0
Fall SSY Total Full Enrollments / 30
Fall SSY Total Conditional Enrollments / 0
Fall SY Total Pre-Service Enrollments / 0
Fall SSY Total In-Service Enrollments / 30

4.2.2b Please provide the Full Time Equivalency (FTE) number for enrolled students in the Fall of the Self Study Year.

* Note: If your program calendar does not allow for a Fall calculation, please use a reasonable equivalent and note your methodology below.

There is no formula on changing part-time students to Full Time Equivalency (FTE) in China. Thus, we adopt the formula used by the U.S. Department of Education IPEDS for student equivalency (currently .361702) for public institutions.

The FTE number for enrolled students in fall 2014, i.e. MPA degree seeking with a graduate certificate, is 10.85. If spring 2005 enrollment also considered, the FTE number for AY2014 is 48.83.

4.2.2c Admitted/Enrolled Students and Mission

Given the described applicant pool, discuss how the pool of admitted students and enrolled students reflects the program mission. Programs can also use this space to explain any of their quantitative data.

The SUFE MPA program has been the most selective one in the country over the last five years, with the highest average score of the national entrance exam in the year 2014 and 2015. Take the 2011 spring cohort, for example. Of the 377 applicants, 120 were admitted and 112 of them actually enrolled. In 2013, we received 557 applications in total, and 148 (i.e., about one quarter) were admitted. All students who got the offer in 2013 are actually enrolled in our program. Figure 4.2 depicts the SUFE MPA program’s admission and yield rates over the academic years of 2010 to 2014. As shown, the constant low admission rates and high yield rates indicate the high selectivity and reputation of our MPA program.

Not only are the enrolled students in the SUFE MPA program well prepared for the academic rigor, but also they are diverse as a group. [4] Take the AY2013 cohort, for example. Our students are all in-service professionals. Of the 148 students, 87 (59%) are women. The ages of the 148 students ranged from the mid-20s to 39 when enrolled the program. Of the enrolled students, 127 (86%) worked in government (mainly regional and local government) and 13 (9%) in enterprises, and the rest in non-profit organizations. In terms of academic backgrounds, 71, i.e. 50%, of students have a final degree in a finance or economics related discipline (such as public budgeting, taxation, accounting, economics and so on), 32 majored in science and engineering, 22 in public affairs and management related fields, 12 in jurisdiction, 11 in foreign languages and other social science disciplinary. The communications and interactions of such a diverse student population are effective conduits for MPA students to meet the needs of a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry.

4.3 Support for Students

The Program will ensure the availability of support services, such as curriculum advising, internship placement and supervision, career counseling, and job placement assistance to enable students to succeed or advance in careers in public affairs, administration, and policy.

4.3.1 Academic Standards & Enforcement

In the box below, describe how the program’s academic continuance and graduation standards are communicated to the students (current and prospective), as well as monitored and enforced.

Both prospective and currently enrolled students are well informed about our program policies and requirements, such as academic continuance (academic standing) and graduation standards. First, we constantly update our website and social media posts. Secondly, an electronic copy of the MPA Handbook is uploaded to our web page under the tab “Prospective Students.” Third, all new students who enter the program attend a mandatory orientation session where standards and expectations are discussed and reinforced. In the orientation, the MPA directors, Dr. Jimao Zeng and Dr. Shu Skeng, who take charge of academic management and MPA recruitment, respectively, and MPA Administration Staff give detailed information about academic policies and graduation standards, faculty advising, and university resources. Core MPA faculty members also attend the orientation for a question and answer session.

The MPA program works with the SUFE Graduate School in monitoring and enforcing continuance (academic standing) and graduation standards. To better serve our in-service students, in 2014 spring the SUFE MPA program adopted a dual-track-advisor mechanism. Each MPA student is assigned to two advisors at the very beginning of the third semester. One is an academic advisor who must be a core full-time professor, and the other is a practitioner advisor who often holds a high-ranked position in a public sector with years of working experience.

All courses are taught on weekends. Additionally, a flexible program schedule ranging from two to four years is provided for our part-time in-service students.

Students are notified that the top 10% of students of each cohort are selected as “Exemplar MPA Students” at the beginning of the third semester, and academic performance is an important criterion. The selection is made by the MPA Faculty Committee based on scores and the diversity considerations of regional and gender balance. “Outstanding Graduates” are also selected before graduation. They will serve as effective conduits to strengthen the relationships between the MPA program and employers. Figure 4.3 illustrates the administration of the SUFE MPA program.

唐莉老师：根据曾老师email告知的春季MPA入学人数是由国务院学位办而不是教育部决定的.也恳请李老师留意一下我用core和foundational courses的表述是否与其他部分一致。若不同，我再改。

4.3.2 Support Systems & Special Assistance

In the box below, describe the support systems and mechanisms in place to assist students who are falling behind in the program, need special assistance, or might be considered “exceptional” cases under advising system described above.

As described earlier, the competitiveness of MPA program itself is secured by carefully screened admission practices. In other words, those admitted students are academically well prepared for MPA degree. Throughout the whole program (starting from application), prospective and newly admitted students are well informed of the criteria for obtaining a degree in our MPA program. For example, during the orientation session, prospective students are informed that once they begin falling behind in the program, or have any other academic trouble, they should contact and meet individually with their instructors. If the problem still cannot be solved, they are highly encouraged to seek assistance from the MPA Director.

Counseling and tutoring services are available to MPA students. The SUFE Graduate School oversees MPA students’ performance. Each semester the MPA Director carefully reviews notices, if any, from the Graduate School. In addition, the MPA Administration Office routinely reports an analysis of students’ performance to the MPA Director at the end of each semester. The MPA Director pays extra attention to students who seem to be falling behind in the program. The Director will call, email, or meet face-to-face with a student to explore why he/she is falling behind. In some cases, the student will be encouraged to retake the required courses or take other optional courses in order to fulfill degree criteria. Thus, as shown in Table 4.3.3a, it is a very rare case of SUFE students who cannot graduate within four years.

4.3.3a Below, using the SSY-5 cohort7, indicate the cohort’s initial enrollment numbers, how many of those enrolled graduated within the program design length, and within 150% and 200% of program design length. Note that the numbers in each successive column are cumulative, meaning that the number of students in the column for 200% of degree length should include the numbers of students from the 150% column, plus those that graduated within 150-200% of program length.

Initially Enrolled / Graduated within Degree Program Length / Graduated in 150% of Degree Program Length / Graduated in 200% of Degree Program Length
Total Number of Students in the SSY-5 Cohort (AY2010) / 142 students / 34.9%
(53 students in two years) / 63.8%
(97 students in three years) / 84.9%
(129 students in four years)

4.3.3b Completion Rate additional information/explanation

Use the text box below the table to provide any additional information/explanation of these numbers (to include such issues as FT/PT, Pre-Service vs. In-Service or other limitations that impede progress towards graduation).

As demonstrated in Table 4.3.3a, over one-third of students graduated within a two-year-degree program length, while 97 out of 142 students graduated within three years, and 129 students got their degree within four years. Since all of our students are part-time in-service professionals, the completion rates seem reasonable if not satisfactory. For students who cannot complete the program within three years, the MPA program administrators collect and report detailed information to the MPA Director. The Director contacts each person and finds out the reasons. Remedial measures are taken on a case-by-case basis. For example, two students of the 2011 spring cohorts who withdrew from our program did so due to the changing of their jobs. Their new jobs are far away, which makes it difficult for them to attend classes and fulfill the residency requirements. Another student got a serious disease during the program and had to quit.

4.3.4 Career Counseling and Professional Development Services

Describe career counseling, job search, professional development, and career support services, personnel, and activities.

In addition to two MPA Directors, the SUFE MPA Administration Office consists of three full-time staff to serve the needs of MPA students. Ms. Hong Jiang is in charge of career counseling and professional development services. Her contact information is explicitly listed on the MPA website and in the MPA Student Handbook.