Check out our list of the top 50 schools for public health if you are considering getting your Master’s of Public Health (MPH), or another public health degree, online.
Featured Online MPH Programs
| University | Name of School | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | School of Public Health | http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Gillings School of Global Public Health | http://www.sph.unc.edu/ |
| Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health | http://www.jhsph.edu/ |
| University of Michigan | School of Public Health | http://www.sph.umich.edu/ |
| Boston University | School of Public Health | http://sph.bu.edu/ |
| Columbia University | Mailman School of Public Health | http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/ |
| University of Washington | School of Public Health | http://sph.washington.edu/ |
| University of Minnesota | School of Public Health | http://www.sph.umn.edu/ |
| Ohio State University | College of Public Health | http://cph.osu.edu/ |
| University of California Los Angeles | Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health | http://ph.ucla.edu/ |
| Loma Linda University | School of Public Health | http://www.llu.edu/public-health/index.page |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | School of Medicine and Public Health | http://www.med.wisc.edu/ |
| Drexel University | School of Public Health | http://publichealth.drexel.edu/ |
| Yale University | School of Public Health | http://publichealth.yale.edu/index.aspx |
| University of Colorado Denver/University of Northern Colorado/Colorado State University | Colorado School of Public Health | http://ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/PublicHealth/ |
| Saint Louis University | College for Public Health & Social Justice | http://www.slu.edu/publichealth.xml |
| Tulane University | School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine | http://www.sph.tulane.edu/ |
| Oregon State University | College of Public Health and Human Sciences | http://health.oregonstate.edu/ |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | School of Public Health | http://www.soph.uab.edu/ |
| University of Maryland | School of Public Health | http://sph.umd.edu/ |
| The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston | School of Public Health | https://sph.uth.edu/ |
| George Washington University | School of Public Health and Health Services | http://sphhs.gwu.edu/ |
| West Virginia University | School of Public Health | http://publichealth.hsc.wvu.edu/pages/ |
| University of Pittsburgh | Graduate School of Public Health | http://www.publichealth.pitt.edu/ |
| University of Illinois at Chicago | School of Public Health | http://publichealth.uic.edu/ |
| Emory University | Rollins School of Public Health | http://www.sph.emory.edu/cms/index.html |
| University at Buffalo SUNY | School of Public Health and Health Professions | http://sphhp.buffalo.edu/ |
| University of Alberta | School of Public Health | http://www.publichealth.ualberta.ca/ |
| Indiana University Bloomington | School of Public Health | http://www.publichealth.indiana.edu/ |
| Texas A&M Health Science Center | School of Rural Public Health | http://www.srph.tamhsc.edu/ |
| University of Nebraska Medical Center | College of Public Health | http://www.unmc.edu/publichealth/ |
| Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | School of Public Health | http://sph.rutgers.edu/ |
| The University of Georgia | College of Public Health | http://www.publichealth.uga.edu/ |
| Georgia State University | School of Public Health | http://publichealth.gsu.edu/ |
| University of Kentucky | College of Public Health | http://www.mc.uky.edu/publichealth/ |
| The University of Iowa | College of Public Health | http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/ |
| Kent State University | College of Public Health | http://www.kent.edu/publichealth/ |
| Hunter College/Brooklyn College/Lehman College/CUNY Graduate Center | CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College | http://www.cuny.edu/site/sph.html |
| University of South Florida | College of Public Health | http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/index.htm |
| Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis | Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health | http://pbhealth.iupui.edu/ |
| University at Albany SUNY | School of Public Health | http://www.albany.edu/sph/ |
| San Diego State University | Graduate School of Public Health | http://publichealth.sdsu.edu/ |
| New York University | Global Institute of Public Health | http://giph.nyu.edu/ |
| University of Louisville | School of Public Health & Information Sciences | http://louisville.edu/sphis |
| University of Arizona | Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health | http://publichealth.arizona.edu/ |
| East Tennessee State University | College of Public Health | http://www.etsu.edu/cph/default.aspx |
| University of South Carolina | Arnold School of Public Health | http://www.sph.sc.edu/ |
| Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center | School of Public Health | http://publichealth.lsuhsc.edu/ |
| University of North Texas Health Science Center | School of Public Health | http://www.hsc.unt.edu/education/sph/ |
| SUNY Downstate Medical Center | School of Public Health | http://www.downstate.edu/publichealth/ |
Ready to get started in Public health?
Selection Criteria for Public Health Schools
Accreditation
The quality of any public health program rests on the academic standards of the department that offers it. The qualifications of the faculty, the research and reference resources available, the subjects covered in the curriculum, the standards for administrative support and evaluation… these are all aspects of your degree program that you really want to know are nailed down.
That’s why accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is a crucial criteria behind the schools on this list. As the speciality accreditation agency for public health programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Educationsince 1974, CEPH evaluates public health programs according to the unique demands and core competencies required for public health service. Accreditation is so important that it is a requirement in order to sit for the major professional certification exam, the CPH (Certified in Public Health) from NBPHE (National Board of Public Health Examiners).
Research
Public health is a field that is constantly evolving, and it’s evolving because of the hard work that instructors and students put into both statistical and on-the-ground research efforts. The top schools in the field have an edge in funding and supporting such projects, which is why we’ve made research a priority in our selections. Excellence feeds on itself for these schools, with expert faculty and longstanding research programs and centers drawing in more funding, which in turn draws in more expert investigators… and you, if you’re smart enough to take advantage of it.
Faculty
Although the CEPH accreditation process covers the basic skills and qualifications that a public health program must require of faculty, there’s plenty of room above that baseline for schools to distinguish themselves. There’s no question that it’s a field that has rock stars… professors like Minnesota’s Ancel Keys, who launched the revolutionary Seven Countries Study, or James Harlan Steele of UT, widely considered to be the father of veterinary public health.
And while not every school has a faculty that reaches those heights, there are many that have instructors who are highly respected in the field. We sought out programs who have faculty with genuine on-the-ground experience and expertise in the field who are active in making important contributions in both research and practice.
Reputation
The top schools in public health don’t hide their light under a bushel; usually we’re not the only ones who have figured out they belong on lists like this. We consider the opinions of other popular third-party rankings, such as those from The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report, or the Economist. Chances are good that a school we’ve found at the top of the spectrum has also been well-reviewed by one or more of them.
Practicum
Public health is a hands-on business, and any CEPH-accredited program will include an applied practical experience component that puts you out in the real world for a face-to-face exposure to the conditions that you will face in practicing after graduation. This kind of internship experience is critical for the kind of practical, well-rounded graduates that the field demands, and some schools do a better job of planning, supporting, and placing students in experiential positions than others. The programs on this list are all at the top of their game when it comes to putting you into relevant, realistic, and well-supported placements where you can learn from practicing professionals while dealing with real-world problems of public health.
Remote Learning
Like every other field, public health has been rapidly going high-tech. And that means an increasing number of online programs being made available, often from these top schools. We not only considered whether the school offered online degrees or certificates, but also what those options really offer. When looking at online programs, there is a whole set of considerations that we apply beyond the basics required of any public health program. Is the remote program synchronous or asynchronous? Do you have the same access to faculty as on campus students? What kind of technical support is offered? How do experiential learning requirements and research opportunities fit in? These are all aspect that we consider before deciding what programs truly fit into the top public health programs in the country today.
All schools shown here have been contacted and informed of their inclusion on this list. Schools that do not wish to be featured are immediately removed. School names are the registered trademarks of their original owners. The use of any trade name or trademark does not imply any association with the school.
