New Opportunities on the Horizon

Rollins rises to meet current public health challenges with two new master’s degree programs.

With technology, informatics, and data playing a bigger role in public health and health care, Rollins is preparing students to meet new challenges in the field.

Two new programs, the Master of Health Administration (MHA) and Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Data Science, will be instrumental in training the next generation of public health and health care leaders. Both programs begin in fall 2026, and applications are open now.

Master of Health Administration

People currently working in a health care setting that are looking to build their health care management skills will find a home in the new Rollins MHA program. The 40-credit-hour, part-time, hybrid program focuses on using technological advancement to deliver more equitable and efficient care.

“Health care is changing rapidly,” says William S. Pearson, PhD, the program’s director. “We are using informatics more often to deliver better care. So, there’s going to be a big focus on that for our students. They will take 18 credit hours of classes to develop health informatics skills.”

The MHA program includes three in-person residencies that focus on a culminating digital health care solution project. Students will work with mentors from Emory Healthcare to address a real-world digital health issue and present their projects to Emory Healthcare leadership at the end of the program.

And mentorship from health care leaders will not be limited to their culminating project.

“Each student will be assigned to a mentor at Emory Healthcare who will meet with them periodically throughout the semester to talk about their day-to-day activities, what it takes to be a health care administrator, and then help the student think through their own career progress and what they want to do once they graduate,” says Pearson.

Students will also benefit from other collaborations across the university, including receiving expert instruction in finance and management from Emory’s top-ranked Goizueta Business School. This will set up graduates to make major impacts, no matter where they end up in health care.

“We expect graduates from this program to become leaders who transform health care for the betterment of all involved,” says Pearson.

Master of Science in Public Health in Data Science

Demand for quantitative skills in the public health workforce has risen in recent years, and Rollins is continuously rising to meet it. In fall of 2024, the school introduced its Certificate in Data Science for master’s students interested in expanding their data skills. Now, data-minded students will be able to dive even deeper into the computational world with an MSPH in Data Science.

“People have been very excited about data science, big data, and new advances in these areas for some time. That’s been reflected in the popularity of the courses that we have offered in these spaces in the past,” says David Benkeser, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics and program director.

Through 48 hours of coursework, students in the MSPH in Data Science program will learn the methods they need to collect, curate, and analyze data that solves real-world public health problems. The program also allows students to specialize their skills: The environmental health concentration includes classes that teach data science methods for risk assessment, human toxicology, and more.

For Benkeser, one of the most exciting aspects of the program is its accessibility for students who do not come from a math-heavy background but are interested in the growing data science field.

“We wanted to have a degree program that had a lower quantitative barrier for entry while still offering a lot of good training,” he says. “Students who haven’t taken three semesters of calculus, for example, can join this program, and after two years here at Rollins they will be able to contribute in a meaningful way to quantitative research and health sciences.”