Master of Public Administration
Public institutions in Uganda are staffed by capable people asked to run modern services with tools and training designed for a different era, and the result is a persistent gap between policy intent and delivery. This Master of Public Administration is a taught, project heavy conversion for public ...
The four facts
What you actually need to compare
- Award and entry
- MPA
- A
- Duration and mode
- 12 months (2 semesters)
- Hybrid. Includes 0 months of paid, assessed cooperative education.
- Cost
- UGX 3,000,000 per year
- None laboratory classification. No laboratory premium.
- Outcome targeted
- Public sector leader and manager, policy analyst and adviser, public financial management specialist
- Reviewed by 2031. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed.
Pricing Model 5.1 · The Forward Standard
Master of Public Administration fee
UGX 3,000,000 per year
- Laboratory tier
- None
- Annual premium
- UGX 0
- Per semester
- UGX 1,500,000
- Whole programme
- UGX 3,000,000
- Approximate USD
- ≈ USD 789
What this fee includes
- Teaching, practice tutoring, assessment and competency verification
- The Amagezi platform and AI tutor around the clock
- All learning materials
- Every examination, including first resits
- Identity card, library, guild, sports and basic wellbeing
- Co-op placement matching and the Capability Passport
- Graduation and the statutory NCHE fee
- Online application
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Public sector leader and manager
- policy analyst and adviser
- public financial management specialist
- monitoring and evaluation specialist
- digital government specialist
- programme and delivery manager
- local government leader
- development professional
Employer types
- Ministries
- departments and agencies
- local governments
- public financial and oversight institutions
- international and development organisations
- non governmental organisations
- regulators and public bodies
- public private delivery programmes
- research institutes
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme is built for public servants and professionals moving into public leadership, and supports senior roles. Progression routes include doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Postgraduate programmes carry work integrated learning inside the taught structure rather than the twelve month undergraduate cooperative education placement. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Master of Public Administration. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 501 | Applied Intelligence for Professionals Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 502 | Research Evidence and Method Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MPAD 510 | Public Administration and Governance Both | 6 | 3-2-2 |
| MPAD 511 | Public Financial Management Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| MPAD 512 | Policy Analysis and Evaluation Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 503 | Governance, Ethics and Leadership of Intelligent Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MPAD 520 | Public Service Delivery and Improvement Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MPAD 521 | Digital Government and Public Service Design Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| MPAD 522 | Leadership, People and Change in the Public Sector Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| MPAD 523 | Ethics, Integrity and Public Accountability Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| MPAD 530 | Public Administration Project Performance | 15 | 0-2-12 |
Total credit units: 60
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Master of Public Administration
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 25 COMPETENCY UNITS
Year 1 · this step is worth 25 CU
Cumulative
25
Programme total
60
25 CU of 60 CU completed by the end of this step (42%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual Judgement CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and Persuasion CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Ethical and Contextual Judgement · Communication and Persuasion · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Analyse a public problem with evidence and design a deliverable response.
- PLO 2Manage public finance, budgets and value for money.
- PLO 3Lead public service delivery and its improvement.
- PLO 4Design and lead digital government and service transformation.
- PLO 5Apply policy analysis and evaluation to a real programme.
- PLO 6Lead people, change and ethics in a public institution.
- PLO 7Apply data and intelligent systems to public administration.
- PLO 8Communicate and defend a public decision to leaders and citizens.
- PLO 9Deliver a major applied C6, C8 project inside a real institution with a measured outcome.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate C10 a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Public institutions in Uganda are staffed by capable people asked to run modern services with tools and training designed for a different era, and the result is a persistent gap between policy intent and delivery. This Master of Public Administration is a taught, project heavy conversion for public servants and professionals moving into public leadership, built around the actual work of making an institution deliver: evidence, finance, digital service, and the management of people and change. It terminates in a major applied project inside a real public institution, weighted toward a delivered improvement rather than a dissertation.
Admission requirements
A good first degree (second class or above) in any field, or substantial public service or professional experience admitted through recognition of prior learning; plus a short reasoning and writing task scored against Capabilities C3 and C4. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: recognition of prior learning against the admission profile under Part G, including substantial professional practice in lieu of the named first degree field. Online components require the Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.