Degrees & Programs

Master of Public Health (MPH)

The Rollins MPH

Do you want to track emerging infectious disease outbreaks? Manage programs that bring affordable health care to communities? Conduct research on the cutting edge of climate change? Wherever your interests lie, you can find your place in a Rollins MPH program.

What Is an MPH?

A Master of Public Health, or MPH, is a graduate-level degree that prepares students for careers improving health and well-being at the population level. 

An MPH gives professionals the skills they need to:

  • Investigate and contain disease outbreaks
  • Analyze health data to find trends
  • Understand the systems that shape health
  • Design and evaluate programs that improve health for communities

An MPH at Rollins combines scientific training with real-world experience. In the classroom, students develop skills in epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy, program planning and evaluation, communication, interdisciplinary teamwork and leadership, and more. Outside the classroom, students work with organizations who are doing the work through applied practice experiences and research projects. 

Who Should Get an MPH?

An MPH is for anyone interested in a career that improves the health of entire communities. This includes people with or without a science background, recent graduates, people looking to change careers, and health care providers like nurses and doctors.

Public health is an interdisciplinary field that benefits from collaboration between people of all backgrounds.

You should get an MPH at Rollins if you want to:

  • Prevent disease and improve health outcomes locally, nationally, or globally.
  • Lead organizations and initiatives that improve population health
  • Influence health policy and health care systems with data
  • Use research to find solutions for pressing health challenges, from diabetes to bird flu to misinformation.
  • Create programs that address the social, environmental, and economic factors that affect health

What Jobs Can You Get With an MPH?

An MPH can open many career doors, from the state or local health department to health care systems to consulting firms. 

Rollins MPH graduates have jobs like:

  • Clinical research coordinator
  • Health communications specialist
  • Health care consultant
  • Health policy analyst
  • Health program coordinator
  • Infection control coordinator

At organizations like:

  • American Cancer Society
  • CARE
  • Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
  • Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
  • Deloitte
  • Pfizer
  • The Task Force for Global Health

Learn more about careers in public health

Our MPH Programs

MPH Concentrations

With seven different MPH concentrations, there's a place for everyone to start exploring their passion area and moving public health forward at Rollins. 

Explore all programs
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Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences

Explore the impacts of human behavior and socio-cultural contexts on population and community health. 

Outer wall of Rollins Plaza

Biostatistics

Learn to apply statistical theory and methods to solve the problems that affect people’ s physical, social, and mental well-being. 

The Rollins Plaza and the R.Randall Rollins building

Environmental Health

Understand the intricate relationship between environmental factors and human health and address the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. 

Outer wall of Rollins Plaza

Epidemiology

Advance your knowledge on the causes, prevention, and control of disease to improve public health. 

Students walking down the bridge outside the Rollins Building

Global Health

Improve the health of global populations and health care delivery systems around the world. 

Health Care Management

Address inequities in the U.S. health care system using management strategies and become a leader in health service delivery. 

Health Policy

Use policy to shape the future of health and enact change in health care access, affordability, and equity. 

Explore all programs

Online Part-Time Programs

Gain the skills necessary to be an influential public health professional—on your schedule. Our online, part-time MPH programs are designed for working professionals and students who want to learn at their own pace. 

Students enjoying class in a lecture hall in the R. Randall Rollins Building

Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences

Explore the impacts of human behavior and socio-cultural contexts on population and community health. 

Epidemiology

Advance knowledge on the causes, prevention, and control of disease.

A student viewing sample for environmental health field studies off-campus

Global Environmental Health

Get ready to enhance environmental protections, promote sustainable development, and address environmental challenges worldwide.

People in protective gear handle paperwork at a COVID-19 testing center

Global Epidemiology

Prevent and control disease around the world.

Students participating in a bingo exercise outside on the RRR second floor courtyard during the 2023 New Student Orientation International Student Social.

Global Health

Improve the health of global populations and health care delivery systems around the world.

Health Policy

Use policy to shape the future of health and enact change in health care access, affordability, and equity.

MPH Curriculum

Curriculum

A Rollins MPH means more than just classroom learning. From diving into hands-on fieldwork across Atlanta to collaborating with world-renowned faculty on innovative research, you won’t just be studying—you will be on the front lines of solving some of today’s biggest public health challenges.

All MPH programs require a minimum of 42 credit hours of coursework in the classroom, a 200-hour applied practice experience in the field, and an Integrative Learning Experience that lets you apply your knowledge to a culminating project on a topic you’re passionate about. 

At Rollins, we know that all public health professionals benefit from having baseline knowledge across disciplines. That’s why, regardless of their concentration, all MPH students take the same set of core courses to set them up for success.

  • PUBH 500: Introduction to Public Health  
  • BSHES 500: Behavioral Sciences in Public Health
  • BIOS 500/L: Statistical Methods I with Lab
  • EH 500: Perspectives in Environmental Health
  • EPI 504: Fundamentals of Epidemiology or EPI 530: Epidemiologic Methods I
  • HPM 500: Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System
  • GH 500: Critical Issues in Global Health

A foundation in epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioral science, U.S. health care, environmental health, and global health gives all MPH students the tools they need to enact change and create healthier communities after graduation.

Rollins also understands the collaborative nature of public health and the importance of working with professionals in other fields like medicine and nursing. All students participate in interprofessional training as part of their MPH education. 

An applied practice experience (APE) is a unique opportunity for graduate students to apply skills learned through course work in a professional public health environment.  

All Rollins graduate students are required to complete an APE of at least 200 work hours in a public health agency, institution, or community under the supervision of a site supervisor and the guidance of their academic department.  

An integrative learning experience (ILE) requires students to apply the competencies they developed during the course of their study to a capstone project or thesis.  

Capstone projects allow students to explore a topic of interest in depth while increasing their practical knowledge, sharpening their presentation skills, gaining peer feedback, and enhancing their career development.  

Thesis projects are independent research or evaluation projects that a student completes with the mentorship of a thesis chair and committee. The thesis helps students develop skills in conducting research and analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating study findings.

All students produce a written product based on their ILE and make an oral or poster presentation.