Oct 07, 2024  
Graduate Catalog 2022 - 2023 
    
Graduate Catalog 2022 - 2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Public Health, MPH


School of Health Sciences

Elizabeth Domholdt, Director, School of Health Science

Don Allensworth-Davies, MPH Program Coordinator

IM-117; 216-687-3833

Introduction

The Master of Public Health (MPH) at Cleveland State University is part of the Consortium of Eastern Ohio Master of Public Health (CEOMPH) program. The CEOMPH is a multidisciplinary, interdepartmental, and inter-institutional program that provides opportunities for graduate studies in public health. Although the MPH degree is awarded by Cleveland State University, the MPH program is consortium-based. The three partners are Cleveland State University, the Northeastern Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), and Youngstown State University. The program is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

The mission of the program is to enhance the health and well being of the community by providing an educational program that fosters collaboration among the participating academic institutions, students, public health practitioners, and the public health system. The program prepares graduates in the knowledge, skills, and analytic capabilities required to improve the health of diverse populations at the local, state, and national levels via community practice, research, and service. The MPH degree program is a non-traditional program that is geared toward the working professional who would like to broaden his or her role in improving community health, especially in a changing health care environment.

Admission Information

In addition to meeting Cleveland State University College of Graduate Studies admission requirements, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  1. Applicants must have successfully completed a college-level mathematics or statistics course, and a college social science or natural science course.
  2. Applicants must have acceptable GRE scores within the last five years. Official results from other equivalent standardized tests used for graduate admissions, also taken within the last five years, may be substituted.  These accepted tests are the following:  DAT, GMAT, MCAT, and PCAT.  The minimum score that is desired are verbal and quantitative (or equivalent components) scores in the 40th percentile or above.  Other documents including transcripts, cover letter, and recommendations will also be carefully considered, in addition to the scores.
  3. The standardized test score (GRE, GMAT, or equivalent) is waived for the student applicant if the following conditions are met:  a) The student holds (or will hold by the date of enrollment in the graduate program) an earned undergraduate degree from an accredited institution. This accreditation must be provided by a regional accreditor (eg., HLC, SACS) in the case of US institutions, or the appropriate local/national accreditor in the case of international institutions b) The student has earned an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher and c) The student has earned an undergraduate degree within six years of application to the CSU College of Graduate Studies.
  4. The TOEFL is required of applicants from countries where English is not the language of instruction in their college/university studies; the minimum required score is 550 for the paper-based examination and 213 for the computer based examination.
  5. Two years of work experience in a relevant field is highly recommended.
  6. The applicant must provide contact information and a valid email address for two individuals familiar with his or her academic or professional background.  If the bachelor’s degree was earned more than two years prior to application to the program, an applicant may submit contact information for supervisors from his or her place of employment.

The application deadline is January 15. Students are admitted fall semester only. Applicants must apply though the Schools of Public Health Application System (SOPHAS) which may be found at https://sophas.org/.  The MPH admissions committee reviews application materials and forwards the files to the Cleveland State University MPH Program Coordinator. The Coordinator then submits the files and admission recommendations to the Cleveland State University Graduate Admissions Office. Applicants are encouraged to review the admission requirements on the MPH web site prior to submitting their application materials.

Degree Requirements


The curriculum consists of six core courses that students take as a cohort. In addition, one grant project, a capstone project, a portfolio, and an exit presentation are required. The MPH core courses meet on Saturdays via online conferencing from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1-4 p.m. Alternate scheduling will be considered to accommodate students with special circumstances.

Students take the core courses via a live webinar. Electives may be taken at any time during the program. Students may select electives from a list of approved courses offered by the partner universities. If the student is interested in an elective that is not on the approved list, an Elective Approval Form must be submitted along with a course syllabus for review by the CEOMPH curriculum committee.

Students are assigned an advisor upon entering the program. The advisor offers guidance on choosing electives appropriate to the student’s career goals and interests. Students must maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 to remain in the program.