Program Finder · Verified September 2026

Master of Public Health (MPH) Programs

Every MPH and related public health master's degree we verified on the school's own site. Filter by format, accreditation, GRE policy, application route, concentration and state, then compare up to three side by side.

How Do You Choose a Master of Public Health Program?

Choose a master of public health program by checking five things in order: CEPH accreditation, format, total cost, concentration and application route. This site lists 488 MPH programs at 295 schools, and 414 of them sit at CEPH-accredited schools or programs. The median program requires 42 credits and charges $841.50 a credit; 258 programs can be taken online, and 187 say the GRE isn't required. Start with the online, affordable or concentration lists if one of those decides it for you.

Researched and edited by · Updated

Two graduate students with backpacks walk through a leafy campus while one reads from an open notebook
Photo: Armin Rimoldi / Pexels

A master of public health is a professional degree that trains you to protect the health of populations rather than treat individual patients. CEPH classifies the MPH as a professional degree in every case, unlike research degrees such as the MS. The MPH is built to one national standard: CEPH, the accreditor, sets the same core competencies for every accredited program. That’s why the real differences between programs come down to a handful of practical questions: accreditation, format, cost, concentration and how you apply.

The Master of Public Health Landscape in Numbers

This site tracks 488 MPH programs at 295 schools in 51 states and territories, counting the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Most sit at public universities (314), followed by private nonprofits (156) and for-profit schools (18).

What you might filter on Programs
At a CEPH-accredited school or program 414
Offered online 258
Offered on campus 238
Offered hybrid 77
Online only 170
Accelerated or one-year 54
GRE not required 187
Apply through SOPHAS 243

The biggest concentrations of programs are in New York (56), California (50), Pennsylvania (25) and Texas (23). If you want to study on campus, the state pages show what’s near you.

Confirm CEPH Accreditation

Start here, because it can rule a program out on its own. The Council on Education for Public Health is the accreditor for public health schools and programs. The US Public Health Service, some military public health jobs and some state and local agencies require MPH-level hires to come from CEPH-accredited schools or programs, and attending one is a pathway to the Certified in Public Health exam.

Of the 488 programs, 414 sit at accredited schools or programs. Another 10 are at CEPH applicants and 3 are at schools on probation. Applicant status typically lasts about three years and isn’t a guarantee of accreditation. The rest aren’t on the CEPH list at all, including some of the lowest-cost options. The CEPH accreditation guide explains each status and how to look a program up.

785 programs

Program facts come from each school's own program pages, reviewed September 2026. Tuition is the school's published figure with its basis; per-credit sorting uses programs that publish a per-credit rate. CEPH status comes from the CEPH accredited list.

Browse by Program Type

Browse by Concentration

Pick a Format That Fits Your Life

Each format has its own page with the full list of programs:

Program type Programs Best for
Online MPH programs 258 Working adults who need to keep their job and location
On-campus MPH programs 238 Career changers who want in-person networks and local practicum sites
Hybrid and executive MPH programs 144 Professionals who want some face time without relocating
Accelerated and one-year MPH programs 54 People with health experience who want to finish fast
No-GRE MPH programs 263 Applicants who’d rather skip the test
Affordable MPH programs 213 Anyone ranking by per-credit price

Online doesn’t always mean fully remote. Of the 258 online programs, 170 are online only; the rest also run on campus or hybrid, and some online programs require campus visits. Read the format details on each program page before you apply.

Price the Whole Degree, Not the Credit

Tuition varies more than any other factor. Among the 213 programs that publish a per-credit rate, prices run from $205 to $2,824 a credit. The middle half charge between $590 and $1,268, and the median is $841.50.

Multiply by credits to see the real range. For the 198 programs that publish both numbers, estimated tuition (published per-credit rate times credits, before fees) has a median of $37,008:

Program Estimated tuition Note
Oklahoma State University MPH $10,286 Resident rate of $244.90; not on the CEPH list
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences MPH $11,275 $205 a credit; CEPH-accredited
NYU MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences $115,322 $2,507 a credit
Johns Hopkins part-time/online MPH $116,640 80 credits at $1,458
Baylor University MPH $118,608 $2,824 a credit

Watch three things that move the total. First, residency: Oklahoma State charges $921.50 a credit to non-residents, against $244.90 for residents. Second, credit systems: CEPH sets the minimum at 42 semester or 56 quarter credits and lets schools define their own credit hours, which is how Johns Hopkins lists 80 credits. Third, aid: the University of Miami MPH charges $2,644 a credit but offers incoming MPH students up to $60,000 in tuition waiver support.

Most programs sit in a narrow band: the middle half require 42 to 45 credits. The MPH scholarships guide covers ways to cut the bill.

Choose Your Concentration

The concentration is about a fifth of your credits and shapes your job direction. Every accredited MPH shares the same 22 foundational competencies, and a concentration typically adds at least 20% of the credits on top.

Concentration Programs
Community health and health promotion 228
Epidemiology 218
Health policy and management 173
Biostatistics 154
Environmental health 134
Global health 93
Public health nutrition 43
Maternal and child health 34
Health informatics 20

These counts include related master’s degrees, not only MPHs. Among MPH programs alone, Epidemiology is the most common named concentration (107), then Global Health (44) and Biostatistics (34). If you’re unsure, the concentrations comparison lines them up by jobs, pay and online availability.

Check the Timeline and the Fine Print on Format

Length depends on pace, course length and any campus requirements hidden inside an online label. A few real examples from the program list:

If you can’t travel, rule out programs with campus intensives early. If you need to finish fast, the accelerated programs list starts at about a year.

Plan Your Application

SOPHAS, the shared public health application, and direct school applications split the field almost evenly: 243 programs use SOPHAS and 208 take applications directly. SOPHAS charges $155 for the first program and $65 for each additional one, so a list mixing both routes means two kinds of paperwork. The SOPHAS guide covers deadlines and transcripts, and MPH admission requirements covers the rest.

The GRE rarely stands in your way. Only 3 programs in this set list it as required, 187 say it isn’t required, 59 call it optional and 17 allow a waiver.

The Best MPH Programs in the USA, by What You Need

No single ranking fits everyone, so here are clear winners on one published measure each:

The schools that award the most public health master’s degrees (IPEDS 2022-23, all public health master’s degrees at the school):

School Degrees awarded
George Washington University 1,100
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1,028
Johns Hopkins University 954
Columbia University 858
Emory University 848
Harvard University 800
Boston University 674
University of California-Berkeley 590

Size measures reach, not quality. A large school can mean more concentrations, more practicum partners and a bigger alumni network; a small one can mean more faculty time.

What the Degree Asks of You

Every accredited MPH ends with two applied pieces. In the applied practice experience, you demonstrate at least five competencies and produce at least two practical work products for a real organization, such as a program plan, survey or training manual. In the integrative learning experience, you produce a high-quality written product, like a program evaluation report or policy statement. A poster doesn’t count.

That structure is what separates the MPH from research master’s degrees. If you’re weighing the two, see MPH vs MS; for the management alternative, see MPH vs MHA. For time planning, how long an MPH takes breaks down full-time, part-time and accelerated schedules.

For International Students

If you plan to work in the US after graduating on STEM OPT, the program’s CIP code matters more than its name. The DHS STEM list, last updated July 22, 2024, includes Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Environmental Health, but not Public Health, General. An epidemiology MPH may qualify where a generalist MPH doesn’t. Get the code in writing before you commit, and compare epidemiology and biostatistics programs if the extension matters to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Masters in Public Health Hard?

It's demanding but not mainly theoretical. Every CEPH-accredited MPH assesses you on 22 foundational competencies, including applying epidemiological methods and analyzing data with biostatistics and software. You also complete applied practice work with at least two real work products and a final written product, such as a program evaluation report.

Why Pursue a Masters in Public Health?

For some jobs it's the standard entry credential. The BLS lists a master's as the typical entry education for epidemiologists, commonly an MPH, and projects 19% job growth from 2025 to 2035. The US Public Health Service and some state and local agencies require MPH-level hires to hold a degree from a CEPH-accredited school or program.

What Does a Masters in Public Health in the USA Cost?

Across the 198 programs that publish both a per-credit rate and a credit total, estimated tuition (rate times credits, before fees) runs from $10,286 to $118,608, with a median of $37,008. Add fees and, for campus programs, living costs. SOPHAS charges $155 for the first program you apply to and $65 for each one after.

Can International Students Get STEM OPT With an MPH?

It depends on the program's CIP code. The DHS STEM list includes Epidemiology (CIP 26.1309), Biostatistics (26.1102) and Environmental Health (51.2202), but not Public Health, General (51.2201). Get the code from admissions before you enroll.

What Is the UC Davis Public Health Masters Like?

UC Davis offers an accelerated on-campus MPH of 56 units that takes 10 to 12 months, starting in Summer Session II in August. It sits at a CEPH-accredited program, lists General Public Health and Epidemiology concentrations and takes applications directly rather than through SOPHAS.

Every program here was checked against the school's own website. Accreditation comes from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) list, and graduate counts from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS). Sponsored listings are labeled and never change which programs we list. How we verify programs