Elevate your impact with
our degree in public health.
In Northeastern University’s Master of Public Health Program you have the opportunity to tailor a powerful and purpose-driven foundation of knowledge, skills, and experience to prepare you to tackle the toughest public health challenges locally, nationally, and globally.
in funding awarded to our faculty in 2023
full-time faculty, including 36 joint appointments
to customize your public health journey
among Public Health Programs in 2024 U.S. News & World Report rankings
average class size
Our flexible degree model enables you to tailor your MPH journey to your area of interest and pursue the pathway that best fits your schedule. Whether you select an on-campus or online program, whether you are part-time or full-time, as a student in the Northeastern MPH program, you will learn from over 70 full-time faculty in a model that is grounded in experiential learning with a focus on social justice and health equity.
Our interdisciplinary faculty have research, practice, and teaching expertise in:
MPH Boston, MA (hybrid)
1 Year Accelerated MPH (online)
MPH Online
Dual Degrees
Full-time or part-time
Fall — July 12 | Spring — December 5
Details below
Cost: 42 semester credits
Cost of tuition per credit
GRE: Not required
F1: Eligible
Time: Typically 2 years of full-time study
Northeastern gave me important practical skills in research, presenting, academic writing, program development, and motivational interviewing that I still use in my current work.
Our graduates have both the technical expertise to address complex issues in challenging environments and the strategic and cultural competency needed to be impactful collaborators, innovators, and advocates.
MPH graduates are employed in professional settings including:
Solve the problems facing complex environments.
Completing your public health training at Northeastern University affords you the opportunity to learn from and work with public health professionals striving to improve the health of individuals, families, and communities around the world. Below are the main areas of expertise for our faculty. That said, the public health field is vast, has many interdisciplinary overlaps, and is ever-evolving. We both welcome and drive that change for current and future public health careers.
Cutting edge data collection and analysis methods, including application to large, real world datasets.
Enhancing the health of groups, including those living outside of metropolitan areas.
Relationships between people and their physical contexts: the impact of people’s behaviors on those contexts and the impact of these contexts on health (e.g., pollution).
Distribution and determinants of health-related issues within populations and applying lessons learned to ameliorating these issues.
Determinants of and ways to improve health in a worldwide context with a goal of achieving equity.
Exploring the best practices and methods for explaining and disseminating information to promote better health.
Enhancing efficiency, effectiveness and value in health and influencing rules and regulations accordingly to achieve health-related goals.
Applying organized knowledge and skills using devices, medications, vaccines, procedures and systems to address health-related issues and improve quality of life.
Individual psychological states and how they influence people’s actions, along with ways to enhance these for the betterment of health.
Our 42-credit curriculum enables students to tailor their degree towards their individual academic and professional goals, in the timeline and modality that’s right for them.
Students can enroll on a full-time (3-4 courses per semester) or part-time (1-2 courses per semester) basis and complete their degree in 12 months to five years.
The MPH program is offered in both hybrid (at our Boston and Charlotte, N.C., campuses) and online asynchronous formats, allowing you to participate in the Northeastern MPH experience from anywhere in the world.
All on-campus sections of core courses (Public Health Core and Social Determinants of Health Core) are held once a week from 5–7:30 PM, Monday–Thursday, facilitating enrollment for students who work full- or part-time and allowing students to pursue research or clinical shadowing during working hours.
Northeastern’s MPH curriculum is a CEPH-accredited generalist MPH with a concentration in the Social Determinants of Health. All students complete the 9 Public Health Core and Social Determinants of Health Core courses. Students have the opportunity to tailor their MPH experience through the Practicum and Capstone requirements and through the required nine elective credits. The MPH Program offers a variety of elective courses, allows students to take advantage of graduate courses from across the University, and offers elective pathways in Public Mental Health and Public Health Technology.
Note: The curriculum is subject to change.
All MPH degree candidates must complete a total of 42 credits consisting of:
The Master of Public Health Program’s concentration in Social Determinants of Health has been developed specifically to meet the growing demand for public health professionals who have the ability to navigate the complex issues inherent to urban, suburban, and rural contexts.
One of the few of its kind, our program brings together interdisciplinary faculty with expertise in working with diverse urban populations and builds upon Northeastern’s rich history of community engagement to provide students with the experience and skills needed to address complex urban public health issues.
With a focus on racial and ethnic health disparities, students examine how the characteristics of the urban environment can affect health and well-being.
Sample topics include:
Learn more about the responsibilities and challenges of working in urban public health.
The MPH Program accepts students for entry in both the Fall and the Spring.
Specific details are outlined below.
| Fall Entry | Spring Entry | |
|---|---|---|
| Applicants accepted | On-campus and online: Domestic and International | – On-campus: Domestic only – Online: Domestic and International |
| Delivery options | – Hybrid, on-campus, online – 100 percent online | – Hybrid, on-campus, online – 100 percent online |
| Student status | Full-time and part-time | Full-time and part-time |
* The Admissions Committee reviews applications on a rolling basis and recommends applicants interested in merit-based scholarships and financial aid submit by the February 1 priority deadline. However, all completed applications received by the final July 12th deadline will be considered for merit-based scholarships as they are available.
The application process for the hybrid on campus/online program and the 100 percent online program are the same. Select your preferred term and delivery option when applying via SOPHAS. Please note that international students holding study visas must take classes on-site.
Applicants interested in the Accelerated program, please visit the Accelerated MPH website.
Those applicants interested in applying for the dual HINF/MPH program should select their preferred program option in SOPHAS. Do not apply to both programs separately.
Other dual degree program applicants apply via a separate application system; please visit those programs’ websites for more information.
This applies to the below dual degrees:
To apply, applicants must also have the following:
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science from an accredited university
Official transcript from all colleges attended
A GPA of at least 3.0 or higher
Completed SOPHAS application
Two letters of recommendation (academic and professional)
Personal statement
Official TOEFL or IELTS scores are required for applicants who do not hold a degree from a U.S. institution and whose native language is not English. We do not accept DuoLingo scores.
All applicants must apply via the SOPHAS application system.
Tell us what you’re interested in, share your questions, and we’ll be in touch.
Dr. Maniar is a Professor of Practice and the Director of the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at Northeastern University. Prior to this, he was the Vice President of Health Systems at the American Cancer Society’s New England Division, overseeing cancer control efforts across the region.
Program DIRECTOR
The program is 42 semester credits. For up-to-date information regarding Northeastern University tuition per credit, please refer to the University’s tuition page. Tuition is the same for on-campus and online-only students, as well as for domestic and international students.
The MPH Program offers a limited number of merit-based scholarships to qualified students.
Tuition scholarship subject to the following guidelines:
The Double Husky Scholarship helps Northeastern alums returning to the institution to earn their graduate degrees by providing a tuition discount of 25 percent. Alums are automatically considered for the scholarship when they apply to the MPH Program.
Full-time students and part-time students starting in Fall 2014 and beyond are eligible. If students receive other grants or scholarships from Northeastern, the award of higher value will be given.
The Full Circle Scholarship offers a 25% tuition discount to graduate applicants who embody Northeastern University’s values of experiential and global learning. If you have completed a term of service with the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, or have spent 1-year abroad volunteering or teaching English Language Learners (ELL), you are likely eligible.
If you’d like to apply for the Full Circle Scholarship, please include in your SOPHAS application a letter from your director, supervisor or program manager on organizational letterhead verifying your service. If you are an Overseas ESL Teacher or Volunteer you may submit your contract showing your term of service.
This fellowship provides graduate students with valuable opportunities to gain hands-on experience working on urban health research studies, learn about preparation of grant applications, attend research seminars, receive mentoring from experienced researchers, and meet local and national experts in the field. To date, the Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice (IUHRP) has funded 25 fellowships (2 undergraduates and 23 graduate students) in its Student Research Fellowship Program.
Some of these student fellows have had multiple year awards. Student Fellows are assigned to an ongoing research project at the IUHRP through which they receive training in: data management, coding, and analyses; conducting critical literature reviews; grant writing; preparation of manuscripts and presentations; and field data collection. For further information please visit the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice’s website.
The Graduate Achievement Award is a competitive scholarship that recognizes talented and motivated applicants who are seeking to earn their Master of Public Health in Urban Health. Recipients of this award are given a 15% tuition discount for the duration of their time in the program.
These scholarships provide a predetermined tuition discount by awarding students a specific number of graduate semester hours in free tuition (typically MPH students are given awards that cover four to six credits). There is no work requirement, and applicants are automatically considered for this scholarship. Nothing additional, besides a completed application, is needed.
The Lifetime Learning Membership allows parents and siblings of full-time undergraduate day students to return to school and receive a 25 percent tuition discount. In order to be considered, MPH applicants should email to Alison Gillis, the MPH Program Manager at [email protected], the Northeastern University ID number of your son, daughter, or sibling (who must be currently enrolled at Northeastern as a full-time undergraduate day student) at the time of your application.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Graduate Fellowship Program provides up to nine graduate student scholarships each year, covering full tuition and general fees for the student’s graduate program. The Program is administered by the John D. O’Bryant African-American Institute.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an accomplished scholar who exemplified the utmost qualities of leadership. In keeping with the high standards exemplified by Dr. King, recipients of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Graduate Fellowship should be of African origin, demonstrate high standards of leadership, and have a record of community service.
The Professional Advancement Award is a competitive scholarship that recognizes the talent and experience of select applicants to advance the field of public health with a focus on improving the health of urban communities. Recipients of this award are given a 25% tuition discount for the duration of their time in the program.
Federal financial aid and institutional scholarships may be available to qualified students. The Office of Student Financial Services provides the most up-to-date information and recommends that every student consider applying for financial aid, regardless of his/her income and assets. You may also call 617.373.5899 or email [email protected].
We also encourage you to visit the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health webpage, Financing Your Degree, for more information.
The MPH Program does not place a cap on the number of qualified applicants it accepts. Typically, it enrolls approximately 30 to 40 new students each year.
We value small class sizes so that students are able to receive personal attention and have opportunities to learn in interactive, rigorous, and supportive learning environments.
For an overview of the curricular policies that guide our program, please consult the Bouvé College of Health Sciences Graduate Handbook.
No, the MPH Program is not considered a STEM program
If you would like to take a class in the MPH Program without officially enrolling, you may register as a Special Student at Bouvé College of Health Sciences. You may complete up to 12 credits of MPH core courses and then apply to the program.
An MPH can open doors to diverse roles in government, nonprofits, and private sectors, often leading to higher salaries and more influential positions. It provides a robust skill set in areas like epidemiology, biostatistics, and health policy, crucial for addressing global health challenges. Additionally, the networking opportunities and the ability to specialize or pursue a generalist path add to the degree’s value.
The terms “Master of Public Health” and “MPH” essentially refer to the same degree. “MPH” is simply the abbreviation for “Master of Public Health.” This degree focuses on the study of public health practices, policies, and research, aiming to prepare graduates for various roles that involve improving community health, preventing disease, and addressing health-related issues on a societal level.
