MPH Concentrations

Your MPH concentration decides roughly a fifth of your coursework and shapes your first job. Everything else, the shared core, is the same across concentrations. So the choice is less about what you’ll study for two years and more about which door you want open when you finish.

The Nine MPH Concentrations Side by Side

Program counts include MPH degrees and related master’s degrees. The pay column is the BLS May 2025 median for the job most closely tied to each concentration.

Concentration	Programs	MPH degrees	Online	Schools	Linked job and median pay
Community health	228	199	109	182	Health education specialist, $64,070; community health worker, $51,850
Epidemiology	218	157	72	141	Epidemiologist, $87,220
Health policy and management	169	150	73	129	Health services manager, $123,860
Biostatistics	154	69	28	94	Biostatistician, $105,650
Environmental health	134	86	32	83	Environmental health specialist, $90,150
Global health	93	71	38	73	Varies by role
Nutrition	43	39	25	35	Varies; dietitian roles need the RDN
Maternal and child health	34	29	12	25	Varies by role
Health informatics	20	13	11	16	Health informatics specialist, $68,020

Two patterns stand out. Biostatistics is the one field where MPH degrees are the minority: 69 of 154 programs. And the online share varies widely. Community health offers 109 online programs; biostatistics offers 28.

When an MS Is the Better Fit

In the quantitative fields, the MPH competes with research master’s degrees. Environmental health has 86 MPH degrees among 134 programs and epidemiology 157 among 218; the rest are related master’s degrees such as the MS. The MPH adds the full public health core and an applied practice experience with a real organization. An MS usually goes deeper into methods and research. If you’re aiming at a PhD or a pure analyst job, compare both; the MPH vs MS guide walks through the differences. In the people-focused fields the MPH dominates: 199 of 228 community health programs and 39 of 43 nutrition programs are MPH degrees.

How Much of Your MPH the Concentration Actually Is

Every CEPH-accredited MPH requires at least 42 semester credits, and every student is assessed on the same 22 foundational competencies. They’re grouped into evidence-based approaches, health systems, planning and management, policy, leadership, communication, interprofessional practice and systems thinking.

The concentration sits on top. CEPH says it typically takes at least 20% of total credits, around 9 of 42, and each one must define at least five competencies of its own. That’s why switching concentrations early is often possible, and why the name on your diploma matters less than the specific courses and practicum you complete.

If You Like Data: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Health Informatics

These three lead to analyst and research jobs, and two of them have the strongest federal outlook. The BLS lists a master’s degree as the typical entry education for both epidemiologists and statisticians. It projects epidemiologist jobs to grow 19% from 2025 to 2035 and statistician jobs 11%.

• Epidemiology is the most common named concentration in MPH programs. It appears 107 times as a concentration name in this set, more than any other. Choose it if you want to investigate disease patterns and outbreaks.
• Biostatistics is the most math-heavy. Its linked job pays a $105,650 median. Choose it if you enjoy statistical programming more than fieldwork.
• Health informatics is the smallest, with 20 programs, but 11 of them are online. Choose it if you want to build and manage health data systems.

If You Like People: Community Health, Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health

These concentrations lead to program design, education and outreach. They pay less at the median, but they’re the easiest to find in a format that fits your life.

• Community health is the largest set, 228 programs at 182 schools. It’s the route to the CHES credential; health education specialists typically need a bachelor’s degree, and the BLS says some positions require a master’s.
• Nutrition splits in two. If you want to become a registered dietitian, you now need a graduate degree plus ACEND-accredited supervised practice, so choose a program that builds it in.
• Maternal and child health focuses on one population across a life stage and borrows heavily from epidemiology.

If You Like Systems: Health Policy, Environmental Health and Global Health

These concentrations work on the structures around health: laws, budgets, organizations, air and water.

• Health policy and management leads to the best-paid linked job in the table. The BLS expects medical and health services manager jobs to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings a year, though it notes most managers enter with a bachelor’s and some employers prefer a master’s.
• Environmental health links to a $90,150 median. Only 32 of its 134 programs are online, so expect to study on campus.
• Global health has 93 programs at 73 schools, and 38 of them are online. There’s no single federal job category for it, so judge programs by their field placements and partner organizations.

Which Concentration Has the Most Online Choices

If you need to study online, the concentration decides how many options you’ll have:

Concentration	Online programs	Out of
Community health	109	228
Health policy and management	73	169
Epidemiology	72	218
Global health	38	93
Environmental health	32	134
Biostatistics	28	154
Nutrition	25	43
Maternal and child health	12	34
Health informatics	11	20

Health informatics, nutrition and community health have the highest online shares; environmental health and biostatistics have the lowest. The online MPH programs page lists every option, and MD/MPH programs cover the combined medical route.

What the Courses Look Like in Four Concentrations

Concentration titles are vague. Course lists aren’t. Here’s what real programs require:

• Community health. UCLA’s MPH in Community Health Sciences builds its core on CHS 200A (Community Health Sciences), CHS 200B (Program Planning) and CHS 200C (Program Evaluation), with a 400-hour field experience.
• Health informatics. IU’s online MPH puts 15 credits into Fundamentals of Data Management, Foundations in Public Health Informatics, Healthcare Information Systems, Information Exchange for Population Health and Introduction to Population Health Analytics.
• Nutrition. CUNY’s MPH in Public Health Nutrition requires Community Nutrition Education, Food and Nutrition through the Lifecycle, Food Policy, Nutrient Metabolism and Applications in Public Health, and Nutritional Epidemiology.
• Maternal and child health. The University at Buffalo teaches its MCH competencies through courses on perinatal and early childhood epidemiology (EEH 577), policy analysis (EEH 515) and life course program design (EEH 512).

Read two or three course lists in any concentration before you apply. If the courses excite you, the concentration fits; if they read like a chore, the job probably will too.

Many Schools Let You Decide Later

Big schools of public health offer many concentrations under one MPH, so you can apply to the school first and choose later. UC Berkeley’s MPH lists concentrations from Epidemiology/Biostatistics to Food, Nutrition and Population Health and Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health. The University of Arizona’s campus MPH runs from Climate Change and Health to Family and Child Health. UAB’s MPH includes Epidemiology, Health Behavior, Environmental Health and Maternal and Child Health Policy and Leadership. Johns Hopkins’ full-time MPH lists areas such as Food, Nutrition and Health, Humanitarian Health and Infectious Diseases.

Names also vary. Health policy shows up as Health Policy and Management (21), Health Policy (15) and Health Policy & Management (7). Search by the content you want, not one label.

Five Questions That Pick Your Concentration

1. Do you want to analyze data or run programs? Data points to epidemiology, biostatistics or informatics; programs point to community health, nutrition or MCH.
2. Do you need a credential? The RDN requires dietetics training; the CHES exam requires health education credits.
3. Must you study online? Community health and health policy give you the most choice.
4. Is pay the priority? Management and biostatistics roles have the highest linked medians.
5. Still unsure? Pick a school with several concentrations, or a generalist MPH; Generalist and Public Health Practice each appear 19 times as concentration names here.

When you’ve narrowed it down, the MPH program guide covers how to compare schools, and the CEPH accreditation guide shows how to confirm a program’s status. For how the MPH compares to research degrees, see MPH vs MS.