MPH Programs in Michigan

Who Hires Public Health Graduates in Michigan

Michigan runs public health through one large state agency and a ring of local ones. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) combines public health with Medicaid and human services, so immunizations, maternal and infant health, lead and vital records sit in the same department as food and cash assistance.

Most day-to-day public health work happens locally. Michigan has 45 local health departments, and the MDHHS Division of Local Health Services acts as their state liaison, administering more than $130 million in funding. The division also runs the Michigan Local Public Health Accreditation Program, which reviews whether each jurisdiction can meet state program standards. For you, that means 45 separate employers with their own openings in disease investigation, environmental health, health education and administration, not one central hiring office.

Community health work is also a funded job path now. Since January 1, 2024, Michigan Medicaid has paid for community health worker services, provided the CHW is on the MI Medicaid CHW Registry and enrolled in CHAMPS. An MPH isn’t required for that role, but MPH graduates often supervise or design the programs CHWs work in.

How Michigan’s MPH Options Split

Michigan’s programs sort into three groups. The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is the research school: 6 MPH programs and 7 related master’s degrees, with 292 public health master’s degrees awarded in 2022-23, the most in the state. Its residential MPHs in epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior and health equity, health management and policy, and nutritional sciences each run 60 credit hours over two years, well above the 42-credit floor most MPHs use. All of them apply through SOPHAS.

The second group is the regional public universities with one MPH each: Grand Valley State (98 degrees awarded), Wayne State in Detroit (94), Michigan State (88), Oakland, Central Michigan and UM-Flint. All of these are CEPH accredited. Wayne State pairs its MPH with 3 dual degrees, and Oakland offers 3 graduate certificates, useful if you want a shorter credential first.

The third group is Eastern Michigan, Ferris State and Saginaw Valley State, whose MPH programs aren’t on CEPH’s accredited list. Saginaw Valley still awarded 70 public health master’s degrees in 2022-23. Read the CEPH accreditation guide before choosing one, because some government public health jobs screen for CEPH-accredited degrees.