Public Health Programs Offered by the University of Vermont
The University of Vermont appears in our ranking of the 10 Fastest MPH Degree Programs Online.
The University of Vermont offers several public health degree programs at the post-bachelors level, including a Master of Public Health (MPH). U.S. News and World Report named this program to its list of the best online public health master’s degree programs in the country. It features 42 credits of classes and allows students to take classes from the Robert Larner, MD College of Medicine. Students can spend up to five years working on their degrees or graduate in just 15 months. The university offers a summer start date that lets students graduate in only four semesters.
MPH students will take classes from five disciplines relating to public health: behavioral health/health education, biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, and health services administration. Students can choose to focus specifically on one of those fields as a concentration too. The program features six core classes, three advanced courses, and three electives. There is also a culminating experience where students can do up to 20 hours of fieldwork or 10 hours of research. Some of the core MPH classes include Environmental Public Health, Epidemiology, Policy, Organization and Financing Health Care and Public Health and Public Policy.
The online accelerated MPH program is open to undergrads and allows them to complete a bachelor’s degree and an MPH in five full years. Though classes start in the summer, students need to have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher and transcripts that show they took advanced math and science classes first. They can take up to six of the required graduate public health classes in their senior year and finish the MPH program in a little under a year.
Students can earn one of four public health graduate certificates online from the University of Vermont too. Most programs feature six courses that students can take over two semesters. One option is the public health certificate, which includes courses such as Public Health Surveillance, Legal Issues in Health Care, Investigating Disease Outbreaks and Social and Behavioral Health. Similar electives are available in the other certificate programs as well as Controversies in Health Economics and Public Health Law and Ethics. The University of Vermont offers certificates online in health care management and study, global and environmental health, and epidemiology.
About the University of Vermont
The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College is the official name given to the University of Vermont, which also goes by the nickname UVM. Established in 1791, it ranks among the oldest universities in New England and the entire country. Founded as a private university, it opened its doors to students one decade after receiving a charter. The campus has a number of historic buildings that students and faculty members still use today, including Old Mill and the Billings Memorial Library. Forbes added UVM to recent lists of the best public colleges, top schools in the nation and best research universities. UVM also ranks as one of the nation’s and world’s best colleges on the list issued by ARWU, U.S. News and World Report, Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly. Located in Burlington, UVM has an enrollment of more than 12,000 students.
University of Vermont Accreditation Details
UVM reaffirmed its regional accreditation in 2019, which comes from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). This is why students who need financial aid can complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and get an aid package from UVM. Students also have the option of using this accreditation if they want to take credits when they transfer from the university or bring credits into one of the public health programs.
University of Vermont Application Requirements
The UVM checklist lets students see what requirements they need to meet to apply to the university’s graduate school and when they should complete each step. They need to gather the contact information for their references and make sure that each one knows they need to write and submit a letter. Most of the public health programs have an application deadline of August first, but students may need to complete their applications by the middle of May depending on the programs and concentrations that interest them.
Students pay a $65 application fee when they submit the UVM Graduate College application. This application asks for a statement of purpose that explains what area of public health interests the student, their reasons for applying to this program and what they will do with that degree. It also asks for a transcript from the college where the student graduate or will graduate from in the near future. A short questionnaire allows students to provide information and qualify for in-state tuition. The application also asks for three names and the contact information for each one, which the university will contact to get letters of recommendation. Students also need to supply a resume when applying to a public health program.
Tuition and Financial Aid
UVM students in the Graduate College pay $683 per credit hour as a Vermont resident and $1,720 per credit hour as a nonresident. They’ll pay a comprehensive fee of $10 per credit hour and a student senate fee of $7 for each credit they take. Students taking five or more credit hours in a semester will also need to buy health insurance if they don’t have a plan. This will add $371.50 to their costs each semester. A tuition break is available for students from New England who do not live in Vermont, which lets them pay less than a standard nonresident rate.
Financial aid is important for many students, which is why the university offers help for incoming students as well as those who enroll every year. Graduate students need to use the FAFSA and make sure that the university receives it a few weeks before the semester starts. This helps them get the scholarships available for those with a high financial need and those with strong merit. They may qualify for work-study and grants, which they can use with the loans they get too. Unsubsidized loans from the federal government help undergrads avoid interest stacking up on their loans before they graduate. Students can use any of these forms of financial aid to pay for the cost of the public health programs available at the University of Vermont.