MPH Programs in Puerto Rico

What an MPH Costs in Puerto Rico

6 Puerto Rico MPH programs publish both a per-credit rate and the credits you need, so you can estimate tuition before fees. Estimates run from $11,275 to $22,000. The median published rate in Puerto Rico is $205 per credit, against $842 for the 213 MPH programs nationwide that publish one.

Program	Per credit	Credits	Estimated tuition
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences: Master of Public Health, General Program (day and evening)Master of Public Health, General Program (day and evening)	$205	55	$11,275
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences: Master of Public Health with specialty in BiostatisticsMaster of Public Health with specialty in Biostatistics	$205	56	$11,480
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences: Master of Public Health with specialty in EpidemiologyMaster of Public Health with specialty in Epidemiology	$205	56	$11,480
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences: Master of Public Health with specialty in Environmental Health (day or evening)Master of Public Health with specialty in Environmental Health (day or evening)	$205	58	$11,890
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences: Master of Public Health with specialty in Gerontology (evening, hybrid)Master of Public Health with specialty in Gerontology (evening, hybrid)	$205	58	$11,890
Ponce Health Sciences University: Master of Public HealthMaster of Public Health	$400	55	$22,000

Estimated tuition is the published per-credit rate times the published credits, before fees. Public schools usually charge non-residents more. Turn any program into a full cost and loan estimate with the MPH cost and loan calculator.

Largest Public Health Programs in Puerto Rico

By public health master's degrees awarded in 2022-23 (U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS), University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences has Puerto Rico's largest program, followed by Ponce Health Sciences University and San Juan Bautista School of Medicine. Size tells you how many classmates, electives and alumni to expect, not how good a program is.

School	Public health master's awarded, 2022-23
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences	194
Ponce Health Sciences University	66
San Juan Bautista School of Medicine	36
Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Guayama	18
Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Gurabo Campus	4

Public Health Pay in Puerto Rico

Among the public health jobs an MPH leads to, medical and health services managers earn the highest median pay in Puerto Rico, $82,580. Epidemiologists earn a median $48,380 (45% below u.s.), 43rd of 43 states with a published figure, across 40 jobs.

Job	Median	vs U.S. median	State rank	Jobs
Epidemiologists	$48,380	45% below U.S.	43rd of 43	40
Statisticians (including biostatisticians)	$49,730	53% below U.S.	46th of 46	230
Health education specialists	$39,650	38% below U.S.	53rd of 53	600
Community health workers	$36,900	29% below U.S.	52nd of 52	670
Occupational health and safety specialists	$45,630	49% below U.S.	53rd of 53	1,430
Health information technologists and medical registrars	$27,040	60% below U.S.	51st of 51	90
Medical and health services managers	$82,580	33% below U.S.	54th of 54	1,180

Annual wages in Puerto Rico, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. A high median on few jobs describes a small market, so read pay beside the job count.

Online MPH Options for Puerto Rico Residents

You aren't limited to schools in Puerto Rico: 257 online MPH programs at schools in other states accept students nationwide. Before you apply, confirm on the school's site that it can enroll Puerto Rico residents online. These CEPH-accredited online programs have the lowest estimated tuition of any online MPH that publishes a per-credit rate and its credits:

Program	Per credit	Estimated tuition
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: Master of Public HealthTexas	$287	$12,915
University of West Florida: Master of Public Health (online)Florida	$386	$16,206
University of Nevada-Las Vegas: Master of Public HealthNevada	$383	$18,013
Georgia State University: Master of Public HealthGeorgia	$464	$19,488
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University: Master of Public HealthNew York	$471	$19,782

Compare every option on the online MPH programs page, or let the program matcher rank them for you.

Why Puerto Rico’s MPH Programs Cost So Little

The University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus is the public option, and its Graduate School of Public Health prices nearly every master’s program at $205.00 per credit. That rate covers the general MPH and the MPHs in epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health and gerontology. The health services administration master’s costs $215.00, and the DrPH programs cost $290.00.

The trade-off is length. UPR programs run on quarter credits and demand more of them than most mainland MPHs: the general MPH requires 55 quarter credits plus 12 hours of interprofessional collaborative practice, and the environmental health MPH requires 58. Even so, estimated tuition (published per-credit rate times credits, before fees) stays near $11,275 to $11,890.

Ponce Health Sciences University is private and does price by residency: $400 per credit for residents and $535 for non-residents. Its two-year, in-person MPH is taught in English and Spanish, with tracks in epidemiology, environmental health and general public health.

Choosing Among Puerto Rico’s Programs

For the most options and the largest classes: UPR awarded 194 public health master’s degrees in 2022-23, against 66 at Ponce. It offers five MPH programs plus MS degrees in epidemiology, demography and industrial hygiene. The biostatistics MPH and the epidemiology MPH each require 56 credits plus 12 hours of interprofessional experience, which suits you if you want data-heavy surveillance work with the Department of Health. The environmental health MPH runs as a day program in one year and a summer, or an evening program in two years and a summer.

For working adults: UPR’s gerontology MPH and its master of public health education both run in the evening in a hybrid format.

For online study from anywhere on the island: Ponce’s MPH in International Health is the only online program in the set, at the same $400 resident rate.

For a CEPH-accredited option in the east: San Juan Bautista School of Medicine in Caguas offers a single MPH and is on the CEPH list.

Two schools sit outside that list. Universidad Ana G. Méndez in Gurabo offers an MPH, and Inter American University’s Guayama campus offers a 45-credit Master of Science in Public Health on a trimester calendar. If you might work for a federal agency or move to the mainland, the CEPH accreditation guide explains why that status can matter.

Every program here applies directly rather than through SOPHAS, so each application follows the school’s own deadline and fee. Compare mainland choices on the online MPH programs page if you want a U.S. program without leaving the island.