Public Health (MPH)

Program Description

For those drawn to the field of public health, it can be much more like a calling than a job. The New York University School of Global Public Health offers committed students like you a world-class education, with domestic and global perspectives that emphasize health equity, ethics and social justice.

Fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, our MPH program offers eight areas of concentration, dual-degree programs, and award-winning faculty conducting groundbreaking research. Learn more about how you can help discover innovative solutions to epidemics and reinvent the public health paradigm.

Concentrations

The NYU Master of Public Health is proud to attract students with a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and career goals. No matter where your interests may lie, the NYU MPH offers eight specialized concentrations that will prepare you for fulfilling public health opportunities that are suited to your talents. While each concentration covers the core public health areas, each is designed to give you a deeper understanding of the unique themes and challenges to that area of study.All students enrolled in the program are admitted into one of the following eight concentrations:

Biostatistics

The Biostatistics concentration teaches you to apply statistical reasoning and methods to the analysis of public health, health care, and biomedical, clinical and population-based data.

You’ll apply descriptive and inferential methodologies to answer research questions and harness the concepts of probability, random variation and commonly used statistical probability distributions. You’ll learn to implement and interpret the appropriate analytic methods or methodological alternatives to calculate key measures of association in public health research studies.

Community Health Science and Practice

The Community Health Science and Practice concentration within the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences prepares you to collaboratively develop, implement, and evaluate programs and policies that promote healthy communities and health equity.

You’ll learn to assess health issues among diverse population groups in the US and globally to develop and implement population-based health programs that improve health and reduce inequities. Throughout your coursework, you’ll apply a social ecological framework to population-based intervention strategies, as well as the assessment of social, cultural, economic, environmental and institutional factors that contribute to health among diverse populations.

Environmental Public Health Sciences

The Environmental Public Health Sciences concentration is housed within the department of global health and anticipates the global marketplace demand for expertise in both environmental health research and practice, focusing on developing skills in analyzing and managing complex issues through both research and applied practice.

As a student in the program, you’ll develop a deep understanding of current global policy and practice, and the ability to advance sustainable, equitable, scalable solutions to environmental challenges. Your core and elective courses will encompass Systems Science, Applied Global Health, and Sustainability.

Epidemiology

The Epidemiology concentration trains students to become public health professionals that possess the skills to critically analyze and understand how individual, social and structural factors shape population-level health and well-being.

Our foremost goal is to provide rigorous education and training in the conceptual and practical applications of epidemiological methods for the next generation of public health leaders. Students are also encouraged to work with faculty mentors, community-based organizations as well as local, state and federal public health agencies to make important connections as well as gain the skills required to become public health leaders.

Global Health

The goals of the Global Health Concentration are to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to take on leadership roles in public health settings around the globe. The concentration trains you to engage with local and international organizations to design and implement effective global health programs. The program will also prepare you to become a leader in the field of public health by applying strategic principles of ethical reasoning and professional practice to advance health equity and social justice around the world.

Public Health Nutrition

The Public Health Nutrition concentration trains you to promote health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases and obesity through educational and environmental approaches to improved nutrition and physical activity. You’ll be prepared to identify and assess diet-related health problems among diverse population groups around the world, identifying the social, cultural, economic, environmental, and institutional factors that contribute to the risk of undernutrition and over nutrition among populations.

Public Health Policy and Management

The Department of Public Health Policy and Management offers two specializations:

  1. Public Health Policy and
  2. Public Health Management

The department aims to develop leaders who will influence policy and manage organizations to improve and protect the public’s health. You will be prepared to develop, implement, and evaluate policies and management strategies in health care and public health. If you are interested in working with government agencies, nonprofits, or private health care organizations that seek to advance public health, these concentrations are suited to your career goals.

Like all MPH students, you will take the core public health courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, social and behavioral determinants of health, environmental health, and the essentials of public health biology. You will then select a concentration in either Public Health Management or Public Health Policy.

Social and Behavioral Sciences

The research-based Social and Behavioral Sciences track within the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences prepares you to critically assess and explain major theories, trends, and debates regarding the relationship between socially structured inequalities and health.

You’ll address existing challenges to achieving health equity at the behavioral, community and societal levels, and apply methods, analytic tools, and ethical principles to design and improve public health research and evaluation.

Admissions

All applications to MPH or MS programs at NYU GPH must be submitted through SOPHAS, the common application for schools and programs of public health.  You are required to select a single area of concentration when you apply, and we encourage you to research the different concentrations available to identify one which best aligns with your interests.

In general, the elements of a complete application include:

  • SOPHAS application form
  • Official transcripts from each institution attended (or an evaluation of your credentials if you graduated from a foreign institution)
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Personal statement
  • Resume/CV
  • English language proficiency exam results for all applicants whose native language is not English and who did not receive the equivalent of a US bachelor's degree at an institution where English is the primary language of instruction.

Dual Degrees

Public health education crosses academic boundaries and integrates the best of what our many graduate and professional schools have to offer. GPH offers five dual degree programs that embody these values by allowing students to complete two separate degrees concurrently, allowing you to get the advanced training you need to start your career as a leader in multiple fields.

Dual Degree Admissions

All dual degree applicants should note that in order to be successfully admitted to a dual degree program, a student must be admitted to both programs separately.  Dual degree applicants should note the instructions to apply to the MPH program but also ensure they apply to the partner school program as appropriate:

  • Applicants to the MSW/MPH must apply to GPH and the NYU Silver School of Social Work.
  • Applicants to the MPA/MPH must apply to GPH and the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
  • Applicants to the MS/MPH must apply to GPH and the NYU Rory Myers College of Nursing
  • Applicants to the MD/MPH must apply to GPH and the NYU Grossman School of Medicine
  • Applicants to the DDS/MPH must apply to GPH and the NYU College of Dentistry.

A dual degree applicant who is admitted to GPH but who does not apply to the other school will not be permitted to matriculate into a dual degree program.