Make Your World a Healthier Place
Lead your community to improved well-being
- 42 credits
- 100% online coursework
- Complete in just two and a half years (7 semesters) full-time
- Featuring specialized fieldwork experience in your geographic location
- Designed to meet the highest academic standards
- No GRE required to apply
Earn your Master of Public Health (MPH) online with Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. Serving the underserved and improving well-being in our communities have been integral to our mission for more than 100 years. That comes to life in our online MPH degree.
As an online MPH degree student, you'll learn from real-world practitioners and benefit from a curriculum crafted by public health experts with decades of experience. You'll examine how to improve health worldwide; prevent the spread of disease; promote equitable access to health services; and more.
Learn to help the public make long-lasting improvements in their physical, mental, and social well-being. Prepare to design, execute, and evaluate public health programs. Graduate with your MPH online ready to make your world a healthier place.
Program Highlights
- Shaped by public health experts. Public health professionals contributed to this master's curriculum to ensure it's as impactful to new public health practitioners as possible. You'll benefit from their decades of experience.
- Lead in the field. The MPH curriculum is built on more than just theory; it ties social justice, health equity, and leadership together to set you up for success. You'll graduate prepared to break boundaries and lead within the field of public health.
- Practitioner instructors. You'll work side by side with instructors who are doing everyday work in public health. They'll ensure your success and pass on their most up-to-date and relevant insights from the field.
- Specialized field experience. Go beyond the classroom with fieldwork in your community, from epidemiology to biostatistics and mental health. You'll select an organization in need of your skills and knowledge, tackle a pressing public health issue, and learn to practice in a real-world environment.
- Aligned with public health standards. This program was designed according to nationwide standards for public health instruction. You're ensured a high-quality education that prepares you for success in this important field.
- Lasallian mission. Saint Mary's is a Lasallian Catholic University with more than 100 years of history and a mission based on quality education, community enrichment, and respect for all.
Program Outcomes
As a graduate of this MPH degree, you will be able to:
- Define the presence of a community or potential community and its subgroups to ensure appropriate place-based public health initiatives
- Promote health equity through culturally competent, community-level communication and engagement plans
- Integrate public health behavior change theories, interventions, and strategies into community engagement, organizing, and outreach
- Use critical thinking to evaluate, analyze, and report community-level behavior and health change as it pertains to policy, programming, and advocacy activities
- Apply ethical leadership skills to promote inclusive and respectful collaboration with communities
Saint Mary's has also defined a series of foundational outcomes, including skills in policy, leadership, communication, planning, and management, as well as evidence-based approaches.
Curriculum Overview: From Theory to Practice
In this online MPH degree, you'll explore health equity and social justice through the lens of a public health professional. You'll learn about the foundations and history of public health and biostatistics, the principles of epidemiology, methods for research and analysis, communication and policy, and more. You'll conclude your learning with four courses of fieldwork in real-world environments.
Public health experts helped Saint Mary's shape this Master in Public Health online to ensure it's as relevant and impactful as possible for future practitioners.
Core Courses
COURSE TITLE | CREDIT HOURS |
MPH600 Principles of Public Health | 3 cr. |
MPH605 Foundations of Biostatistics | 3 cr. |
MPH610 Social and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health | 3 cr. |
MPH615 Principles of Epidemiology | 3 cr. |
MPH620 Environmental Determinants of Health | 3 cr. |
Application Courses
COURSE TITLE | CREDIT HOURS |
MPH630 Public Health Research and Analysis | 3 cr. |
MPH635 Design of Community Health Programs and Interventions | 3 cr. |
MPH640 Evaluation of Community Health Programs | 3 cr. |
MPH645 Population Health and Community Organizing | 3 cr. |
DIGA605 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems | 3 cr. |
MPH650 Health Promotion and Communication | 3 cr. |
HS715 Advanced Health Policy and Ethics | 3 cr. |
HS720 Strategic Health and Human Services Leadership | 3 cr. |
Summative Courses
COURSE TITLE | CREDIT HOURS |
MPH680–MPH683 Field Experience (Parts I–IV; 1 cr. each) | 4 cr. |
MPH690 Integrative Learning Capstone | 2 cr. |
Learn more about the courses in this MPH on our Curriculum page.
Career Outlook: Improve Quality of Life
An MPH degree prepares you for a diverse range of careers with a singular mission: Improving people's quality of life locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Here are a few of the influential and high-paying positions you could pursue with a master's in public health.
- Health Educator: Teach behaviors that promote wellness, whether in a nonprofit organization, a doctor's office, a college, or a private business. In 2020 the median pay was $48,140 with an estimated 13% growth1
- Environmental Scientist: Harness your knowledge of natural science to protect our environment and human health. In 2020 the median pay was $73,230 with an estimated 8% growth2
Chronic Disease Program Manager: Direct programs that take an integrated care approach to managing illness.The salaries of Coordinator, Chronic Disease Prevention Programs in the US range from $46,130 to $114,550 , with a median salary of $69,45033
Health and Wellness Coordinator: Coordinate patient's entire health care journey instead of focusining on one specific condition. The average salary range for a Health and Wellness Coordinator is between $47,072 and $79,57544
Learn more about your career opportunities with an MPH degree on the Career Outlook page.