Graduate programs

The School of Public Health graduate programs are designed to prepare students for professional work in the fields of community health, health promotion, health management, and health policy in a wide variety of settings. Students may also complete a plan of study that prepares them to pursue a doctoral degree in a health-related area. 

The School of Public Health offers three graduate degrees, and two doctoral programs: 

1. A Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree in Health Promotion.

2. A Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree in Health Management and Policy.

3. A Master of Arts/Master of Science (M.A./M.S.) degree in Health Studies. 

4. The doctoral program (PhD) in Community Health is an interdisciplinary course of study designed to provide students with advanced learning in conducting research and developing instructional skills in public health with a focus on community engagement and the social determinants of health.

5. The doctoral program (PhD) in Health Systems and Policy is an interdisciplinary course of study designed to provide students with advanced knowledge, analytic skills, and competencies in conducting research and developing teaching and learning skills in health systems and policy.

Students with a wide variety of undergraduate degrees and professional experience are admitted to the School of Public Health.

Admission requirements

Biostatistics M.P.H.

Environmental Systems and Human Health M.P.H.

Epidemiology M.P.H.

Health Management and Policy M.P.H.

Health Promotion M.P.H.

Primary Health Care and Health Disparities M.P.H. online

Biostatistics M.S.

Health Studies M.A./M.S.

Epidemiology MPH

The MPH in Epidemiology program trains health professionals in the population perspective toward disease prevention and health care. Courses in this track emphasize the use of quantitative methods for analyzing and addressing health problems to support basic and applied research in public health and health care. The core curriculum offered to all MPH students focuses on providing epidemiological and statistical reasoning skills and competency in studying the distribution and dynamics of disease in populations, in evaluating health care programs, and in conducting clinical, behavioral, and health services research.

Core Competencies

Students graduating from this track will be able to:

  • Apply population-based concepts of epidemiology and risk determination to the assessment of health problems

  • Apply evidence-based knowledge of health determinants to public health issues

  • Apply and interpret a variety of statistical methods commonly used in medical and public health research

  • Formulate and test a researchable question

  • Identify ethical problems that arise when epidemiology is used to guide public policy decisions

  • Identify cultural dimensions of conducting research, including culturally sensitive recruitment of study participants, and develop strategies for interpretation of data in the larger cultural context

  • Assess and interpret relevant literature in the area of public health and epidemiology

  • Communicate public health principles and concepts through various strategies across multiple sectors of the community

For more information and instructions on how to apply visit the MPH in Epidemiology web page.