Best Universities offering graduate programs in Public Health

The Department of Global Health and Population (GHP) seeks to improve global health through education, research, and service from a population-based perspective.

As a community of students, educators, researchers, and practitioners from around the world, our department works together to produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere.

Students come to the department with various backgrounds and with a range of career goals. All have an interest in the health of disadvantaged populations worldwide. Through our master’s and doctoral degrees, the department is home to students developing expertise in areas such as health systems design, management, and evaluation; health economics; global nutrition; maternal and child health; global infectious and non-communicable diseases; and humanitarian studies and population ethics. Our research and teaching has a unique foundation in what we call global health methods – including competency in various quantitative and qualitative methods that we apply to the study of various problems and solutions.

Our faculty works continuously to strengthen our educational offerings, to stimulate new research, and to build an intellectual community. Our array of term-time courses, summer and winter international experiences, and other special events throughout the year offer a comprehensive portfolio of learning opportunities for our valued student and postdoc community. From research and teaching in Boston and other parts of the US, to Brazil and Mexico; from China and India, to Tanzania and Egypt, our programs and projects span the globe in more than 30 countries.

The Yale School of Public Health is a leader in Yale University’s commitment to improve health across the globe through research, education and community engagement. The School uses science to foster health, promote innovation, train leaders and make a difference in the world. Faculty research spans a variety of fields including chronic and infectious diseases, implementation science, environmental health, behavioral determinants of health, policy and administration.

The Global Health Concentration is available to students from any YSPH department enrolled in the traditional two-year M.P.H. or five-year BA-BS M.P.H. programs. Students in the one-year Advanced Professional M.P.H. program may enroll in the Global Health Track.

Coursework is offered throughout the University to encourage creativity and innovation, while fostering a global perspective. YSPH faculty is on the front lines of global health response, from zika to health systems, to food insecurity.

Access to faculty led multidisciplinary centers across the University including the Yale Institute for Global Health (YIGH)

The Global Health Concentration builds on all these experiences and emphasizes an integrative problem–solving approach to global health issues and to diseases and conditions that afflict developing and developed countries.

Students who complete this concentration will be well prepared for positions in a variety of organizations—public and private, national, bilateral and multilateral—dedicated to global health challenges.

The University of Pennsylvania Master of Public Health Program (MPH Program) is a university-wide, interdisciplinary collaboration among eight schools. In addition to the faculty from the School of Medicine where the program is housed, faculty from Nursing, Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Wharton School of Business, Dental Medicine, and Social Policy and Practice, are integral partners in this initiative. The overall MPH Program objective is to provide a focal point for enhancing collaborations in public health research and practice. We consider this program to be a unique model for training the next generation of public health leaders.

The University of Pennsylvania MPH program leverages the University’s interdisciplinary resources to prepare the next generation of public health leaders and innovators to promote the health of populations locally, nationally, and globally.

The Dartmouth Institute’s online/hybrid Master of Public Health program is designed specifically for working professionals who are not afraid to ask tough questions and who are passionate about challenging the status quo, the 22-month program enables you to pursue your MPH with minimal time away from your job. Offered in a low-residency format, you will complete a combination of online MPH coursework and attend brief residential periods on campus.

Along the way, you will work closely with a small group of about 40 peers who bring variety of perspectives to the program as physicians, nurses, social workers, program managers, researchers, policy analysts, and administrators. With a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio, you’ll also have direct access to the Institute’s world-renowned faculty who are the innovators behind many of the most disruptive ideas in health care today.

The Health Systems MSPH Program prepares students to take on leadership and management roles in health policy and planning, health financing and management, and monitoring and evaluation of health programs. Our graduates contribute to strengthening health systems through the implementation of equitable and cost-effective interventions for improving access, quality, and efficiency of health services for underserved populations.

Students are trained in monitoring and evaluation of large-scale programs, health policy analysis, comparative health systems analysis, and health financing. Students also receive a strong background in key areas such as primary health care and maternal and child health.

The practicum experience and capstone paper allow students to apply the knowledge gained through academic coursework to solving pressing health problems and challenges in global health and to make meaningful contributions to the health of underserved populations. For the practicum, students have the opportunity to work on faculty projects or to be placed within a number of organizations across the world, including the School’s wide array of international collaborators.

The Accelerated Public Health Program (APHP) at Northwestern University provides high-achieving undergraduate students the opportunity to earn their bachelor’s and Master of Public Health (MPH) degrees in five years. Students in this selective program will have access to early MPH Program acceptance, specialized advising, the opportunity to complete their MPH field experience abroad, and exemption from the GRE requirement for MPH admissions. Undergraduates from every Northwestern school and major are eligible to apply.

Students accepted into the program will begin earning credit towards the MPH during their fourth year, and will also have the opportunity to take advantage of specialized advising to more thoroughly plan their MPH field and culminating experiences before the start of their fifth/MPH year. APHP students will pursue the generalist track or a concentration in global health, epidemiology, or community health research during their MPH year.

This program was established through collaboration between Weinberg College’s Program in Global Health Studies and Feinberg’s Program in Public Health.

The Institute for Public Health harnesses the strengths of Washington University in St. Louis to address the complex health issues and health disparities facing the St. Louis region and the world.

The vision for public health at Washington University is to improve community and global health through the creation of new knowledge, the application and translation of science, and the training of advanced academic and practice leaders in public health.

The MPH/MPA Dual-Degree Program is a highly rigorous program for students who are intellectually curious, highly motivated, and committed to the study of public health and public policy.

The School of Public Health and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs offer the Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Public Affairs (MPA) dual degree program. Students from a variety of backgrounds and fields of study are encouraged to apply. Emphasizing a learning-by-doing approach, this rigorous program will offer highly-qualified applicants the opportunity to gain training in public health and public policy to prepare them to address critical health policy issues in the United States and throughout the world.

The Global Health track is designed to educate innovative and effective public health professionals in the development and management of effective global health initiatives, to contribute to sound public health policies and practices, and to engage in meaningful partnerships with communities.

In addition to the core public health coursework (Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Social and Behavioral Science, Environmental Science, and Health Services Administration), courses include Foundations of Global Health, Essential Skills in Global Health, and Leadership, Policy and Management in Public Health.

The Master’s Thesis requires students to synthesize and integrate knowledge from their coursework and practicum experiences into a final product. While the product may take the form of a research thesis, a capstone project, a journal article, a policy document, or a program evaluation plan, it should clearly reflect how the project has engaged and impacted the project ‘community’ or site. Students identify a focus area, conduct a literature review, develop a protocol/plan, collect and analyze data when appropriate, and prepare a written product.

Berkeley Social Welfare and the School of Public Health(link is external) offer a three-year Concurrent Degree in Social Welfare and Public Health (MSW/MPH) that combines the epidemiological approach from public health with a bio-psychosocial approach from social work. Upon successful completion of requirements for both degrees, Concurrent Degree Program students are awarded the Master of Public Health (MPH) and the Master of Social Welfare (MSW).

The fields of public health and social welfare are both concerned with prevention, and both focus on vulnerable population groups. Combined interventions such as community needs assessment and planning, community organizing, and client/consumer education, focus on population groups within the context of community. Historically – and particularly at Berkeley – each field has been characterized by a community perspective and by advocacy for the underserved. Both public health and social welfare require skills in administration, program planning and evaluation, consultation, training, and direct clinical practice. Public Health Social Workers practice in a range of settings and with a broad level of interventions.

The MSW/MPH Concurrent Degree program aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote health, prevent disease, and enhance the delivery of health and social services in the community. Students will build interdisciplinary skills and an interdisciplinary professional identity by developing an understanding of the breadth of each field and their interface, while permitting concentration in particular specialization areas. Graduates are prepared for work in a variety of interdisciplinary settings, and for some, the concurrent degree may provide a basis for future doctoral study.