MPH Programs in Virginia

What Residency Does to Your Tuition

Virginia’s public universities charge non-residents far more, and Old Dominion shows how wide the gap gets. For fall 2026, ODU’s standard graduate rate is $510 per credit for Virginia residents and $1,361 for non-residents, and both pay a $162 per-credit auxiliary charge on top. If you live outside Virginia and study online, ODU’s technology-delivered rate of $662 per credit sits much closer to the in-state price than to the campus out-of-state rate. So an out-of-state student choosing ODU should take the online MPH, not the campus version.

Private schools set one price. Liberty University’s online MPH lists $600 per credit full time, $665 part time and $310 for military students, and its 42 credits put estimated tuition (published per-credit rate times credits, before fees) at $25,200 for full-time students. The University of Lynchburg’s 36-credit online MPH costs $630 per credit, an estimated $22,680.

Don’t count on state loan repayment to cover a public health career. Virginia’s State Loan Repayment Program pays down educational loans only in exchange for at least two years of primary care or dental work at a site in a Health Professional Shortage Area. It helps a nurse practitioner or physician who adds an MPH, not a health educator or epidemiologist. For other ways to fund the degree, see the MPH scholarships guide.

Choosing Among Virginia’s MPH Programs

Liberty University is by far the largest producer, with 502 public health master’s degrees awarded in 2022-23, and its online MPH offers concentrations in community health promotion, environmental health, global health and nutrition. It suits you if you want a fully online, CEPH-accredited MPH at a fixed private price and a direct application instead of SOPHAS.

UVA suits you if you already have health experience and want speed: its 42-credit MPH can be done as an intensive one-year program, on campus in Charlottesville, with tracks in research in practice or health policy, law and ethics. The accelerated MPH programs page lists similar options nationwide.

Mason, VCU, Virginia Tech and ODU suit you if you want a public university and in-state pricing. Mason, Virginia Tech and ODU don’t require the GRE. All four apply through SOPHAS; the SOPHAS guide explains the timeline.

Shenandoah, Lynchburg and Virginia Union each offer an MPH but aren’t on the CEPH list. That matters if you’re aiming for the US Public Health Service, some military public health jobs or the state and local agencies that fill MPH-level jobs only with graduates of CEPH-accredited schools and programs. The CEPH accreditation guide explains what you give up. Once you’ve shortlisted, compare what the work pays with the epidemiologist career guide.