Master of Public Health
Loretto, USA
Master degree
DURATION
18 months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2026
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
Key Summary
Make an impact with a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Saint Francis University
Our accelerated MPH program, offering 100% online coursework, is designed to help you build leadership skills to advance population health through education, research, and service. You will gain a global perspective with a unique focus on rural health.
- Accelerated 18-month program saves you time and money
- Interdisciplinary collaboration with other healthcare programs
- Joint research opportunities with faculty and colleagues
The SFU Learning Experience
A Master’s Degree in Public Health from Saint Francis will not only strengthen your leadership skills, but you will go on to touch the world in a positive way by embracing a vision of wellness, a spirit of compassion, and a promise to serve. Led by our Catholic Franciscan values, excellence that emphasizes an inter-professional learning environment, application of evidence-based practice, and experiential service initiatives that benefit all of humanity, our online program advances population health through education, research, and service. Graduates are expected to hold themselves to the highest ethical, professional, and scholarly standards while utilizing holistic, evidenced-based solutions in service to humankind.
Rural Matters!
Economics, education, and location are factors that create healthcare disparities for rural Americans. In this program, we rise together to meet the challenges and create public health leaders through advocacy, communications, education, and research.
- Theory & Research: The MPH degree consists of 42 credits that include online coursework and field experiences, which emphasize a rural health focus culminating in a capstone research project.
- Hands-On Learning: Students in the program will develop, implement, evaluate, and report upon a public health intervention at a self-identified rural field experience site.
- Online Learning: Allowing for ease of entry and completion for the working student or professional, the program is collaborative and incorporates current graduate course offerings from across the School of Health Science and Education, including the Master of Health Science and the Master in Nursing programs.
- Self-Paced Learning: Although it is designed for completion within a year, students may take up to 3 years to complete the MPH program. Students are required to declare this intention with their academic advisor and work with them to develop a clear pathway toward graduation.
As a Master of Public Health student at Saint Francis, you will gain a global perspective, but with a unique focus on rural health. By examining the impacts of globalization on environmental health and developing an understanding of health disparities across global populations, you will learn to apply analytical skills to assess community health needs and design programs to improve community health both near and far. Our online courses will also help to prepare you for the Certified Health Educator Specialist (CHES) exam, setting you up for a successful career.
Program Snapshot
- 100% online coursework
- 42 total credits
- 18-month anticipated completion time
- Rolling enrollment
The online program allows for ease of entry and completion appealing to the working student or professional. The program is collaborative and incorporates current graduate course offerings from across the School of Health Science and Education including the Master of Health Science and the Master in Nursing programs.
Capstone Requirement
Students in the Master of Public Health Program are required to develop, implement, evaluate, and report upon a public health intervention at a self-identified rural field experience site. These requirements can be met through the successful completion of the following courses:
- MPH 525 Program Planning and Implementation
- MPH 526 Fundamentals of Program Evaluation
- MPH 530 Applied Practice Experience
- MPH 533 Community Health Research and Assessment
Graduation Requirements
A candidate for graduation must satisfy the following requirements:
- Complete all requirements for Master of Public Health degree;
- Complete the minimum number of credits as specified in this publication;
- Receive a minimum “C” grade in each course;
- Repeat any course in which a final grade of “D” or “F” was obtained;
- Achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.8 or better;
- Submit a completed Application for Degree form at least one semester prior to graduation date;
- Satisfy financial obligations to the University.
Requirements: (42 credits)
- MPH 504 - Introduction to Public Health
- MPH 509 - Communication for Healthcare Providers
- MPH 515 - Leadership
- MPH 516 - Biostatistics
- MPH 517 - Rural Health Systems
- MPH 518 - Strategies in Health Policy
- MPH 521 - Principles of Epidemiology
- MPH 522 - Public Health Prospective of Chronic Disease
- MPH 523 - Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health
- MPH 525 - Program Planning and Implementation
- MPH 526 - Fundamentals of Program Evaluation
- MPH 527 - Environmental and Occupational Health
- MPH 530 - Applied Practice Experience
- MPH 533 - Community Health Research and Assessment
As a graduate of our online Master of Public Health program, you will be able to:
- Engage in evidence-based practice, using Public Health Sciences, to promote physical, mental, and spiritual wellness rooted in environmental health.
- Exercise leadership in Public Health, grounded in an ecological perspective, by identifying the natural and social determinants of health status in communities and the dynamic interplay among these factors for the promotion of health.
- Create systems level interventions using quantitative and qualitative epidemiologic outcomes evaluation to analyze the geographical, demographic, and cultural patterns of the distribution of disease and injury communities.
- Engage in life-long learning to promote the science of Public Health through evidence-based research.
- Utilize systems level educational interventions, focused on wellness, that improve communication amongst residents and organizations by addressing factors such as health literacy and diversity using resources within academic, health care, and political institutions.
- Generate and lead interdisciplinary collaborations to ethically assess and address persistent and emerging challenges in public health through health policy at the local, state, national, and global level.
Our Master of Public Health is designed to help you build leadership skills to advance population health through education, research, and service. The perspective is global, yet with a unique focus on rural health.