Public Health Programs at the University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco appears in our ranking of the 10 Cheapest MPH Degrees in California.
The Population Health Sciences Department is part of the School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of San Francisco. It offers a Master of Public Health (MPH) and several related programs for graduate students. The MPH program is available on the main campus and the campuses in Sacramento and Orange County as well as online. Students on any campus can pick from concentrations in community and public health practice, behavioral health or health policy and leadership.
A major component of the MPH program is a fieldwork requirement that asks students to do 250 hours of work. The experiences that they do and where they work will relate to their concentrations. Only those on the Sacramento campus can choose the health policy and leadership concentration. While the behavioral health concentration is available on the San Francisco campus, students on that campus, online students and those in Orange County can select the public health practice concentration. MPH students must complete the public health core too, which includes Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Program Planning, Evaluation and Management, and Health Policy and Ethics.
The university also offers a Master of Science (MS) in Health Informatics. It includes research opportunities for students through some of the on-campus labs and institutes. Previous students looked at how autism and related disorders affect the brain and how early interventions can help some patients. This program includes a four-class core: Perspectives on Health Informatics, Semantic Organization of Health Information and Data Standards, Statistical Computing for Biomedical Data Analysis and Clinical Decision Support and Health Data Analytics. Students will also pick a concentration in health data or clinical informatics and take at least four classes from their concentrations. The university allows students to take public health classes as their electives.
Students who choose the behavioral health concentration in the MPH program will need to take 26 credits of public health classes and an additional 16 credits of psychology and behavioral health courses. Health Education and Promotion Planning with a lab, Chronic Conditions, Applied Research Methods, Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care and Professionalism in Health Education and Promotion are the classes that make up the behavioral health core. Also available at the University of San Francisco are related certificate programs, including a health informatics executive certificate and a family nurse practitioner certificate.
About the University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco is a private university named after the city of San Francisco, California, which is also home to its main campus. Founded in 1855 as the St. Ignatius Academy, it started with a single building that had just one classroom. The academy received approval from the state to offer college degrees four years later, which led to the campus becoming St. Ignatius College. This name would stick with the college until it became the University of San Francisco or USF in 1930. Affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church through the Society of Jesuits, USF ranks as one of the largest private universities in the city. USF ranks as one of the nation’s top colleges by Washington Monthly and U.S. News and World Report, which also ranks it as one of the top schools for veterans.
University of San Francisco Accreditation Details
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is just one of the organizations that granted program accreditation to USF. It also has accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for all of its nursing programs and accreditation for its psychology programs too. The primary accreditation that USF holds is the regional accreditation awarded by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Students can use the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) thanks to this accreditation and get financial aid each year they attend USF.
University of San Francisco Application Requirements
USF will begin looking at applications for its MPH program around the middle of January and encourages students to apply by the end of the month. It has a final application deadline of May 15 and will not accept applications or any additional information after this date. Students can only apply online because the department does not accept paper or mailed applications. After they apply online and pay the graduate application fee, students can submit their unofficial transcripts and a personal statement of two to three pages that lists their goals and interests. USF asks for both a resume that shows the public health experience the applicant has at the college level and beyond and two letters of recommendation. Those accepted can then submit their official transcripts. USF will not accept students to the MPH program who have a grade point average below 3.0 and a bachelor’s degree.
The deadlines for the university’s health informatics program is May 15 for the fall semester and November 15 for the spring semester. Students need a minimum GPA of 3.0 and a bachelor’s degree, but they do not need that degree in hand when they apply, only when they enroll. Their transcripts should show that they took research and advanced math courses and earned grades of C or higher. USF requires a goals statement, two letters of recommendation and a professional resume along with the application fee and application. It has similar requirements for students applying to a certificate program.
Tuition and Financial Aid
All graduate students in the university’s public health and related programs will pay $1,430 per credit hour. Their general fees come to $70 per year. USF offers health insurance and requires that students either buy a plan or have existing coverage. Those who need health insurance pay an extra $2,741 each year, which the university will divide into two equal payments.
Applying for financial aid at USF is easy. The university encourages prospective students to visit the FAFSA website and use their accounts to fill out the form and apply for loans. They need to apply separately for a government PLUS loan, but traditional loans are available to those who use the form. Several scholarships are available too, including the dean’s scholarship for public health majors and foundation scholarships that award students nearly $50 million in prizes every year. Students applying to the public health programs at the University of San Francisco can view a list of external scholarships that they can use too.