Coordinated Master of Public Health/Master of Public Administration Program

The MPH/MPA degree program provides students with the knowledge base of public health and the skills required to work effectively in a responsible, administrative position in the public sector.  Through this coordinated degree program, students in the MPH program can satisfy some of their requirements through courses in the MPA program and vice versa.

Coordinated MPH/MPA Learning Objectives

• describe the economic, legal, organizational, and political underpinnings of the US health system (both tracks);
• apply skills required to work effectively in an administrative position in the government sector based on public health principles and programs (both tracks;
• apply the principles of management and strategic planning in health care organizations (management track);
• apply basic planning and management skills necessary for administration of health care organizations (management track);
• critically evaluate health policy research studies and resulting recommendations (policy track); and 
• design and implement health policy studies and draw appropriate conclusions (policy track).

Admission:  Students entering this program must meet the minimum requirements for admission into the School of Public health.  The student must apply to and be admitted to both programs.  The graduate School should be contacted for MPA application materials and the School of Public Health should be contacted for MPH application materials.

Curriculum:  The MPH/MPA program requires the satisfactory completion of 58-62 credit hours.  Students must complete both MPH and MPA core requirements. Students may choose either of two program options - health policy analysis or management.  It is anticipated that a full-time student can complete the dual curriculum in two years.  Part-time students may take up to five years to complete their studies.  This is a coordinated dual degree track, and, as such, graduation from one program is contingent upon completion of all requirements for graduation from the other program. 

PUH Core – 16 hours  [or 15 if MPA 607 option is selected]

HCO 600:        Intro to Public Health Systems & Pop. Based Health Programs

EPI 600           Introduction to Epidemiology

ENH 600         Introduction to Environmental Health Sciences

HB 600            Social & Behavioral Sciences Core

BST 600          BST for Public Health (4 hours):  May substitute MPA 607, Statistical Analysis.  That course has MPA 606, Research Design, as a pre-requisite.

Integrative Experience – 3 hours

MCH 695: Integrative Experience

MPA Core – 19 hours 

MPA 600         Environments of Public Service

MPA 601         The Public Policy Making Process

MPA 602         Administrative Theory and Behavior     

MPA 603         Public and Nonprofit Budgeting

MPA 605         Information Technology in Government

MPA 606         Research Design

MPA 697         Capstone Project/Graduation Research (1 hour)

Internship – 6 hours

MPA 693         Internship in Public Administration.  If waived by the MPA program because of student’s non-profit or public agency experience, an additional 3 credit MPH course must be taken, and the request for waiver of the MPH internship must be completed.  If MPA 693 is not waived by the MPA program, students should discuss their choice of internship placement with their MPH advisor.  The students must complete the School of Public Health Internship Agreement/Description form.  This form documents the goals and objectives of the internship as it relates to public health content.  It should also state that the internship should include a minimum of 240 hours of public health content.  It should be signed and delivered to the Internship Coordinator in the Dean's Office before the internship begins so that it can be recorded.

A final product will be required that consists of a report detailing how the goals and objectives stated in the Internship Agreement/Description form were met and how the internship was beneficial.  This report, along with the required Internship Supervisor and Student Evaluations must be turned in to the Internship Coordinator's office to be recorded and filed.  A record of these completed tasks will be placed in the student's file.

Health Policy Option – 12 hours

HCO 601         Health Economics

MPA 667         Public and Administrative Law OR

HCO 607         Public Health Law

HCO 686         Integrative Health Policy Analysis

MPA 689         Program Evaluation

Management Option - 12 hours

HCO 601         Health Economics

HCO 720         Health Insurance and Managed Care

HCO 612         Strategic Management in Health Programs OR

MPA 678         Strategic Planning for Public/Private Action

MPA 604         Human Resource Management

Electives – 6 hours

Two electives selected from MPH or MPA courses as follows

MPA 674         GIS                                          HCO 640 Disaster Management

MPA 677         Cont. Urban Issues                   HCO 670 Ethical and Social Issues

MPA 604         Human Res Mgmt                     HCO 680  Aging Policy

MPA 678         Financial Mgmt             HCO 673  App. Global Child Health

MPA 690         E-Gov                                      MPA 690  Grant Writing

Total 58 – 62 hours

** Public Health Internship Procedures

Students should discuss their choice of internship placement with their MPH
advisor to assure compliance with the Public Health Internship requirement. 
Further, the students must complete the School of Public Health Internship
Agreement/Description form.  This form documents the goals and objectives
of the internship as it relates to public health content.  It should also state that
the internship should include a minimum of 240 hours of public health content.
It should be signed and delivered to the Internship Coordinator in the Dean’s
Office of the School of Public Health before the internship begins so that it can
be recorded.