Use your health care skills, knowledge, and passion to solve bigger problems! Northwestern University’s Program in Public Health offers a part-time, evening Master in Public Health (MPH) degree program designed for current health and public health professionals. Our goal? To enable our graduates to span the boundaries between public health and their professional fields.

By taking 1 to 2 classes a week, students obtain their MPH degree in two to four years. Most classes are held on Northwestern’s Chicago campus; a few electives are offered on the Evanston campus.

The program is administered by The Feinberg School of Medicine’s Department of Preventive Medicine in conjunction with The Graduate School of Northwestern University.  MPH program faculty members are drawn from the Department and many other departments of the Medical School (including Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Medicine, and the Institute of Health Services Research and Policy Studies) and the University (the Law School, the Kellogg School of Management, and the Department of Anthropology, among others). Additional faculty are public health practitioners in the community and around the world.

Curriculum

The MPH curriculum includes 5 core courses (biostatistics, behavioral science, management, epidemiology, environmental health sciences), an intermediate level course in epidemiology and or intermediate biostatistics, a research methodology class (options include epidemiologic research and design, survey design, qualitative research, clinical trials, and others), a two-year cycle of public health seminars, 6 electives, and field and culminating experiences. Health professionals are sometimes able to transfer credits from prior graduate coursework. For a full list of courses, see Course Descriptions (under the Current Students tab).

The Field Experience (FE) provides a chance for students to work in a government or community public health setting. Program partners include the Chicago and Evanston Departments of Public Health, a number of Chicago-based community organizations (Community Partners), and many international sites. For MPH students who work full time, the FE can be adapted to fit their schedules.

The Culminating Experience (CE) is an opportunity to bring all of the student’s course work and field experience together. CEs usually consist of a research project, mentored by an MPH faculty member, done in the student’s last year in the program.  MPH students’ CE projects in recent years include a study of the epidemiology of vitamin D deficiency in a physician’s patient population, a study of the utility of offering free gym membership in getting diabetic patients to exercise, and focused home visits for child household safety education.

Admissions Requirements

Students must have a baccalaureate or graduate professional degree (e.g., MD, DDS, BSN, BA, BS, MS) in a health care-related subject area plus professional experience in health care or public health. A holistic review is made of every application taking into account school, major, courses taken, and trends in GPA over time as well as professional work experiences, publications, language skills, honors and other achievements.

Successful applicants generally have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher and GRE scores at or above the 50th percentile in Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning.  Applicants with an earned doctoral degree from a US or Canadian institution are not required to submit GRE scores. 

Application

Applicants must

• Complete an online application through The Graduate School (TGS), including a one-page Statement of Purpose.
• Upload transcripts from all post-secondary schools attended.
• Submit GRE or MCAT scores or request a waiver from Maureen Moran, the program’s Associate Director for Admissions and Graduate Affairs. In general, applicants with an earned doctorate from a US or Canadian institution do not need to submit graduate or medical school admission test scores.
• Submit two letters of recommendation from former instructors or employers/ supervisors

Tuition/Financial Aid

Most MPH students enroll in fewer than three units of credit per quarter and are considered part-time graduate students.  Tuition for these students is charged per unit of credit with most classes being “one unit”.  MPH students enrolled in three or more units per quarter are charged the full-time (“three-four”) rate.  Tuition can be expected to increase 3-4% per year and the most recent tuiton rates can be found here.  Sixteen units are required for graduation.  Some students have credits from prior or concurrent professional or graduate school coursework to apply toward their MPH degree.  McGaw Medical Center fellows may have tuition support from their fellowship programs. Employees of Northwestern University may be eligible for tuition reimbursement, and should check with their human resources office.  Other students should check with their employers for information on tuition assistance.

Application Deadlines

Questions?

For questions about the program and the application process, contact

Maureen Brady Moran, MPH
Program in Public Health
Associate Director for Admissions and Graduate Affairs
Phone: (312) 503-0500
Fax: (312) 908-9588
E-mail: m-moran@northwestern.edu

Apply Now

 online application for the MPH program.