MS in Public Health
Admission Requirements
In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, applicants must meet the following program requirements:
- Baccalaureate Field A major in the biological, physical, or social sciences is preferred. Students applying to the primary concentration in Environmental and Occupational Health must have completed a full year of general chemistry, at least one semester of organic chemistry, and two semesters of calculus; one course in human physiology is also required for those interested in a secondary concentration in Occupational Safety. Those interested in the ASAC-ABET Accredited MS Program in Industrial Hygiene must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited school, including completed course work in college-level mathematics, biology, general and organic chemistry, and physics. Exceptions may be granted for applicants with relevant work experience or high-level academic achievements. Exceptions may be admitted with an individually documented plan of study to compensate for deficiencies, although applicants are strongly encouraged to satisfy all deficiencies prior to matriculation. Applicants are invited to consult with the Industrial Hygiene program director about possible deficiencies.
- Grade Point Average At least 3.00/4.00.
- Tests Required GRE General. For GRE General Tests, the combined verbal and quantitative scores must be at least 300.
- Minimum English Competency Test Score
- TOEFL 80, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Speaking 20, and Writing 21 (iBT Internet-based); 60, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Writing 21 (New Paper-Based—after August 2018); 550 (Institutional Testing Paper-Based—prior to August 2018), OR,
- IELTS 6.5, with subscores of 6.0 for all four subscores, OR,
- PTE-Academic 54, with subscores of Reading 51, Listening 47, Speaking 53, and Writing 56.
- Letters of Recommendation Three required.
- Personal Statement Required; the statement should address the applicant’s intended research, career goals, and reason for pursuing the MS degree in the chosen area.
Degree Requirements
In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, students must meet the following program requirements:
- Minimum Semester Hours Required 48; 50–51 for the Epidemiology concentration; 50 for the Cancer Epidemiology concentration; 51 for the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology concentration; 52 for the Industrial Hygiene concentration; and 53 for the Occupational Safety concentration.
- Course Work At least 32 semester hours must be in courses other than IPHS 598, and at least 9 semester hours must be at the 500-level (requirements for the Biostatistics concentration are described below). No more than 4 hours of IPHS 596 may be applied to the degree.
- Required Courses: EPID 403 and BSTT 400. Remaining courses and their distribution depend on the student’s primary (and secondary, where applicable) area of concentration. MS students select from one of the following primary concentration areas: Biostatistics, Community Health Sciences, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Health Policy and Administration.
Biostatistics Concentration Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Concentration Requirements | ||
| Design of Clinical Trials | ||
or BSTT 507 | Sampling/Est Methods in PH | |
| Biostatistics Methods I | ||
| Biostatistics Laboratory | ||
| Biostatistics Methods II | ||
| Categorical Data Analysis | ||
| Survival Analysis | ||
| Longitudinal Data Analysis | ||
| Biostatistical Consulting | ||
| Biostatistical Investigations | ||
| Intro to Probability | ||
| Statistical Theory | ||
| Electives | ||
| A minimum of 8 semester hours of electives. Students are strongly encouraged to complete at least one course recommended by the Director of Graduate Studies which provides a broad introduction to public health. | ||
Community Health Sciences Concentration Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Concentration Requirements | ||
| MS students concentrating in Community Health Sciences must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree. In addition, students must take: | ||
| Pub Hlth Concepts & Practice | ||
| Behavioral Sci Pub Health | ||
| Biostatistics II | ||
| Res Meths In Comm Hlth | ||
| Hlth Educ & Hlth Promotion | ||
| Students are strongly encouraged to complete at least one course recommended by the director of graduate studies which provides a broad introduction to public health. | ||
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Concentration Requirements
- MS students concentrating in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree in addition to BSTT 401 and EOHS 405. Students must also complete the division core of 12 semester hours in EOHS courses, choosing at least one course in each of the following three areas:
- Exposure Assessment
- Health Assessment
- Risk Assessment and Policy
- Students should see their advisor for a list of courses in each area.
- Students are strongly encouraged to complete at least one course recommended by the Director of Graduate Studies which provides a broad introduction to public health.
Epidemiology Concentration Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Concentration Requirements | ||
| MS students concentrating in Epidemiology must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree. In addition, students must take: | ||
| Intermediate Epidemiolog Mthds | ||
| Epidemiologic Computing | ||
| Current Epid Literature | ||
| Epid Research Seminar | ||
| Biostatistics II | ||
| Select one of the following: | ||
| Logist Regr & Survivl Analysis | ||
| Design of Clinical Trials | ||
| Sampling/Est Methods in PH | ||
| Students are strongly encouraged to complete at least one course recommended by the Director of Graduate Studies which provides a broad introduction to public health. | ||
Health Policy and Administration Concentration Requirements
- MS students concentrating in Health Policy and Administration must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree. In addition, 25 hours of course work relevant to the disciplinary area of Health Policy and Administration are taken in consultation with the faculty advisor.
- Students are strongly encouraged to complete at least one course recommended by the Director of Graduate Studies which provides a broad introduction to public health.
Additional Course Requirements for Those Pursuing a Secondary Concentration
Cancer Epidemiology Secondary Concentration Requirements (Epidemiology (EPID) students only)
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| MS students concentrating in Cancer Epidemiology must complete all of the SPH and divisional requirements for the MS degree. In addition, students must take: | ||
| Logist Regr & Survivl Analysis | ||
| Cancer Epidemiology | ||
| Select two of the following: | ||
| Nutritional Epidemiology | ||
| Special Topics Nutr | ||
| Adv Cancer Epidemiology | ||
| Genetics in Epidemiology | ||
| Occup & Envt Epidemiology | ||
| Advanced Spec Topics Epid (Social Epidemiology) | ||
| Advanced Spec Topics Epid (Surveillance Epidemiology) | ||
Global Health Secondary Concentration Requirements (open to all on-site MS students)
- Students earning an on-site MS in Public Health degree in any of the primary concentrations may also enroll in the Concentration in Global Health. Students in the Global Health Concentration program must satisfy school-wide and divisional requirements in addition to the following: IPHS 409, IPHS 410 and an elective (3 hours). Selection of an elective should be made with the help of the student’s academic advisor; and is subject to the offering department’s approval. MS students in the GH Concentration must focus their research thesis (IPHS 598, 8 or 16 hours, as required by the student’s divisional concentration) on a global health related topic either outside the U.S. or domestically through an appropriate alternative venue. In addition, as feasible, students in the concentration are strongly encouraged to select topics of global health relevance when completing all course assignments for their program. Competency in a foreign language is also highly recommended but not required for the program. With proper planning, courses may be used to satisfy both the Global Health Concentration and divisional requirements.
Industrial Hygiene Secondary Concentration Requirements (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (EOHS) students only)
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| MS students concentrating in the ASAC-ABET-Accredited Program in Industrial Hygiene within the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree. In addition, students must take: | ||
| Biostatistics II | ||
| Environmental Calculation | ||
| Occupational Hlth &Safety Prac | ||
| Physical Agents | ||
| Airborne Contaminants | ||
| Psychosocial Work Environment | ||
| Industrial Hygiene Lab I | ||
| Air Quality Assessment & Mngmt | ||
| Applied Hygiene & Safety | ||
| Occ Env Diseases | ||
| Management Systems | ||
Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Secondary Concentration Requirements (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (EOHS) and Epidemiology (EPID) students only)
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| MS students concentrating in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree; and must adhere to divisional requirements as stipulated in their individual program of study. In addition, students must take the following courses for a total of 51 semester hours for the MS degree: | ||
| Biostatistics II | ||
| Intermediate Epidemiolog Mthds | ||
| Epidemiologic Computing | ||
| Occupational Hlth &Safety Prac | ||
| Topics in Occup & Environ Epid | ||
| Methods in Occupational Epid | ||
| Environmental Epid Methods | ||
| Occ Env Diseases | ||
| Risk Assessmnt in Env Hlth | ||
| Injury Epid & Prevention | ||
| Epid Infectious Diseases | ||
or EPID 411 | Epid Non-Infectious Diseases | |
| Logist Regr & Survivl Analysis (Epidemiology Students Only) | ||
Occupational Safety Secondary Concentration Requirements (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (EOHS) students only)
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| MS students concentrating in Occupational Safety must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree. In addition, students must take: | ||
| Biostatistics II | ||
| Environmental Calculation | ||
| Occupational Hlth &Safety Prac | ||
| Psychosocial Work Environment | ||
| Industrial Hygiene Lab I | ||
| Applied Hygiene & Safety | ||
| Occ Env Diseases | ||
| Management Systems | ||
| Injury Epid & Prevention | ||
| Ergonomics & Human Factors | ||
| Safety Engineering | ||
| Select one of the following: | ||
| Physical Agents | ||
| Quality Control & Reliability | ||
TSM 421 (Urbana campus course) | ||
Public Health Informatics Secondary Concentration Requirements (Online MS - Health Policy and Administration (HPA) students only)
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Concentration Requirements | ||
| MS students concentrating in Public Health Informatics must complete all of the SPH requirements for the MS degree. In addition, students must take the following: | ||
| Required Courses | ||
| Biostatistics II | ||
| Hlth Info & Dec Supp Syst | ||
| Developmt PH Surveil Info Sys | ||
| Selective Courses | ||
| A minimum of 16 hours from among the following: | ||
| GIS for E&PH Professionals | ||
| Database Design and Analysis | ||
| Mgmt Comm System PHI App | ||
| Legal & Ethical Issues in PHI | ||
| Survey Pub Hlth Info Systems | ||
| Pub Hlth Info Eval & Proj Mgmt | ||
| Web-Based Pub Hlth Info Syst | ||
| GIS App in Public Hlth | ||
| Datamining Public Health | ||
| Elective Courses | ||
| A minimum of 6 hours from among the following: | ||
| Informatics for the Clinical Investigator | ||
| Knowledge Management in Healthcare Organizations | ||
| Consumer Health Informatics | ||
| Princ of Mgmt in Public Health | ||
| Strategic Planning & Budgeting | ||
| Organizational Leadership PH | ||
| GIS Integrative Project | ||
HPA 486 | Survey of Public Health Information Systems | |
| Students are strongly encouraged to complete at least one course recommended by the Director of Graduate Studies which provides a broad introduction to public health. | ||
| Noncredit Training | ||
HIPAA Research Training and Investigator Training 101 | ||
- Comprehensive Examination Required only for Biostatistics students.
- Thesis, Project, or Course-Work-Only Options Thesis or course work only. No other options available.
- Thesis: Thesis required for all areas, except Biostatistics. Thesis students must earn at least 8 hours in IPHS 598; students in the Epidemiology, Cancer Epidemiology, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology, and Public Health Informatics concentrations must earn at least 8 hours in IPHS 598.
- Course Work Only Only for Biostatistics students. Comprehensive examination required.
Interdepartmental Concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies
Students with a primary concentration in Community Health Sciences may complement their courses by enrolling in a concentration in Gender and Women's Studies after consulting with their graduate advisor. See Gender and Women’s Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section for more information.
Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Survey Research Methodology
Students with a primary concentration in Community Health Sciences may complement their courses by enrolling in a concentration in Survey Research Methodology after consulting with their graduate advisor. See Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Survey Research Methodology in the Graduate College section for more information.
Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Violence Studies
Students earning a graduate degree (MS, PhD) in this department may complement their courses by enrolling in a concentration in Violence Studies after consulting with their graduate advisor. See Violence Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences section or the Jane Addams College of Social Work section for more information.
Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Women’s Health
Students earning a graduate degree (MS, PhD) in this department may complement their courses by enrolling in a concentration in Women’s Health after consulting with their advisor. See Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Women's Health in the College of Nursing section for more information.