Wednesday's Beijing Today says that, in this coming fall, 2400 candidates will be enrolled in 24 elite universities to pursue MPA (Master of Public Administration) degrees, the first ever in China.

On Monday morning, Mr. Zhu Liyan, secretary general of the China National MPA Education Counselling Committee, disclosed that three most important academic degrees in the world, namely MBA, MPA and Law have not been introduced to China.

The first MPA candidates will be "the best selected from the best" with a maximum of 100 for each university. Enrolment is from July 10 to 31 and MPA entrance examinations held from October 13 to 14. Reqrements for the prospective students: 4-year university graduates, in-service staff at government organizations or non-governmental public administration agencies, civil servants from government organs in particular. The examinations cover 5 subjects, political theory, English, management, administration, and annotative logic.

Though details like tuition fees and recruitment information have not been posted, many universities have began their fight for prospective students. Last Sunday at Tsinghua University, our reporter observed that staff were kept busy and sweating, "More than 100 people come around each day inquiring about MPA courses. Many cme a long way from out of town." On Tuesday night, People's University held its first MPA advisory meeting, while Tsinghua University is to hold a large-scale info-publishing meeting this SundayMr. Ji Baocheng, the first deputy director of MPA Counselling Committee and the president of People's University, pointed out that the goal of MPA education is to foster professional talents in the fields of public affairs, public administraton and policy research for government and non-government public organizations.

According to Mr. Zhu Liyan, as the civil servant system began to be implemented in 1995, a corresponding civil servant education system is required to set up and follow the relevant international practices. MPA education abroad has a history of some 80 years. In the United States, more than 30,000 people are pursuing MPA degrees in 200 plus universities every year.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2001)