Master of Public Health Program Details

If you are ready for a rewarding career, a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree will prepare you to be a leader in public health planning, policy, management, evaluation and research. The MPH program also prepares you for a rewarding career in public health, one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for health educators and community health workers is projected to grow at a rate of 21% between 2014 and 2024, faster than the average for all occupations (13%). Public health workers specifically are projected to grow 15% between 2014 and 2024. Graduates of the MPH Program have rewarding careers that offer great personal fulfillment by serving others in local, national, and international settings. They hold leadership positions in hospitals, district health departments, research institutions, federal, multilateral, and voluntary organizations throughout the state of Michigan and beyond.

Admission to the Master of Public Health program

Students are admitted in the fall semester. You must complete the application in full, along with all submission materials, before it can be reviewed. Admission decisions are made by an admissions committee made up of Public Health faculty members. Admission is based on your entire record and potential to succeed in earning a graduate degree in public health.

Apply to CMU

Admission requirements

We review all applications and submitted documents in making a determination on admission and make such recommendations to the Office of Graduate Studies.

Admission requirements include:

Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher learning. You must provide official documents including official transcripts of classes completed. If you have graduated from a Council for Education of Public Health (CEPH) certified program, you will have priority consideration for admission.
Applicants with an overall GPA of less than 3.0 may be considered for regular admission.
A resume that includes at least the following:
- Educational experience.
- Professional goals and objectives.
- Work history.
- Professional experiences, memberships, and participation in professional activities.
Statement of Purpose. A personal statement (1-2 pages) describing your reasons for pursuing a graduate degree in public health at Central Michigan University. The statement should include information about your future career plans, or any past or current activities or achievements which are related to your proposed field of specialization including any research or teaching experience you may have had.
Two letters of reference that can attest to your ability and likelihood of success in a graduate program.
No graduate exam scores required.
Because of the nature of the program and academic content, it is recommended that you have competency in the following areas: math and statistics, biology, and written and verbal skills. If you have not had such courses or developed these competencies you should develop them prior to starting the program.
TOEFL, IELTS, or other English proficiency exam is required if you are from a non-English speaking country. You must be able to study and communicate in English and achieve the minimum score required by our Office of Graduate Studies. If you take the IELTS exam, you must achieve a minimum IELTS overall score of 5.5 for admission with stipulations or 6.5 or higher for regular admission. If you take the TOEFL exam, you must achieve an overall score of 79 (iBT).

If you do not meet one or more of the admission requirements, admission with stipulations may be considered by the MPH program. In such cases, you will need to earn at least a 3.0 GPA during the first nine credits taken in the MPH program. If you are wishing to be considered for admission with stipulations, you will need to submit a rationale for granting such admission, which will then be reviewed by the MPH program, the final authority in making a decision.

Retention requirements

You must maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA.
If you are admitted with stipulations, you must demonstrate that you can achieve a 3.0 GPA during the first semester.
If you do not maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA or who have more than two C or C+ grades in foundational or required courses, you may be placed on academic probation. Continued academic probation in multiple terms will result in dismissal from the MPH program.
You will be allowed to repeat a course no more than two times in order to improve the grade. Students may not have more than two C or C+ grades in foundational and required courses to graduate. Grades of C- or less do not count for graduation.

Transfer credits

You may transfer into the MPH program up to 12 credits of course work from another regionally accredited graduate degree program, provided that you earned a grade of B or better in the course and the course is determined by the MPH program to be equivalent to courses taught in the degree program. The determination of the MPH program is final in determining what courses, if any, can transfer.

The MPH courses are sequenced to start in each fall semester of the academic calendar. Students admitted in the spring program should take courses that might not have stringent prerequisites or with the permission of the instructor. In the initial stages, students admitted in the spring semester of the program may be delayed for at least one semester of the expected completion date; this will be offset when classes are taught in each semester.

Application deadline

Program	Deadline
On-campus MPH program	April 1
Online MPH program	June 30

Programs and degrees

The MPH program is designed to provide a comprehensive, practice-based, student-centered education. The MPH program offers degrees in one concentration currently and two are in progress.

CMU is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and as a regionally accredited institution is authorized to operate as an institution of higher education. HLC is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Master of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

Concentrations

The Public Health Practice concentration is offered face-to-face and online. This concentration is an interdisciplinary program that prepares you to assume leadership roles in a wide range of settings such as local, state, national and international public health agencies, hospitals and health systems, nursing and ambulatory care facilities. Coursework incorporates features of several public health disciplines and specialties including maternal and child health, health promotion, and socio-behavioral health in addition to foundational and required public health courses.