Earn your bachelor's degree and master's degree in five years.

Grounded in the basic sciences with an emphasis on population health, the Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) program prepares students for positions in fields such as health education, epidemiology, and environmental health across nonprofit, industry, and government sectors. Inspired by Loyola's Jesuit tradition of social justice and freedom of inquiry, the Master of Public Health (MPH) program prepares students to improve population health and promote health equity with three MPH study tracks: Public Health Policy and Management, Epidemiology, and Global Health Equity.

CURRICULUM

MPH Track-Specific Curricula (15 credits)

Epidemiology

This hybrid program combines online and evening classes. Epidemiology is the basic science of public health: it helps us understand the causes of and solutions to diseases. This track equips students to design, conduct, analyze, and interpret population health research, while they learn the basic principles of all public health disciplines.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
MPBH 412	Intro to Statistical Computing for Public Health	2
MPBH 421	Biostatistics II	3
MPBH 423	Intermediate Epidemiology	3
MPBH 427	Introduction to Correlated Data Analysis	1
MPBH 431	Grant Writing	3
Choose One Research Methods Course from the following:		3
MPBH 413	The Epidemiology of Obesity: An Energy Balance Perspective
MPBH 414	Introduction to Global Health
MPBH 433	Clinical Trials
MPBH 434	Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
ENVS 480	Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
Total Hours		15

Global Health Equity

This concentration is a hybrid program of online and evening classes. Study the health of global populations with the ultimate goal of identifying and eliminating structures and practices of inequity and injustice to advance health equity for individuals and populations.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
MPBH 414	Introduction to Global Health	3
MPBH 417	Global Maternal & Child Health	3
MPBH 422	Population Health Planning & Management	3
MPBH 431	Grant Writing	3
Choose one of the following: 1		3
BEHL 407	Social Determinants of Health and Bioethics
BEHL 432	Global Bioethics
Total Hours		15

Public Health Policy and Management

This concentration can be completed entirely online, and also can be taken with in-person courses. This curriculum studies the organization, structure, and delivery of health-related services, and associated population health outcomes. Students may customize their academic focus in either public health policy, administration, or both.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
MPBH 416	Health Services Research Methods	3
MPBH 425	Policy Analysis	3
Choose one of the following		3
BEHL 402	Justice & Health Care
BEHL 404	Biomedical Ethics and Law
BEHL 407	Social Determinants of Health and Bioethics
BEHL 411	Systems Ethics Frameworks
BEHL 412	Organizational Ethics I: Business, Professionalism, and Justice
BEHL 432	Global Bioethics
Choose two of the following		6
Policy-oriented
MPBH 420	Public Health Law: Theories and Cases
MPBH 424	Health Economics and Healthcare Financing
Management-oriented
MPBH 422	Population Health Planning & Management
CMAN 533	Fiscal Management in Health Care Organizations
Total Hours		15

Applied Practice Experience (1 credit)

Also known as the MPH practicum, it provides the student with practical experience in a public health setting, requiring the student to apply and integrate skills and knowledge learned in courses. The applied practice experience (APE) must be 210 hours or more. Students must apply five program competencies to their APE and produce at least two deliverables, which will become part of their portfolio. Examples of APE sites include MRSA Research Center, North Shore Mosquito Abatement District, Summer Field Research in Ghana, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, Chicago Department of Public Health, and Mount Sinai Hospital.

Integrated Learning Experience (2 credits)

The integrated learning experience is a student-led capstone project culminating with a presentation and written manuscript. The project should demonstrate student's ability to apply acquired skills and competencies to a public health problem that simulates a professional practice experience. Depending on their interests, some students may analyze data collected during their practicum to help complete their capstone.

Guidelines for Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Programs

Terms

• Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s programs: In this type of program, students share limited credits between their undergraduate and graduate degrees to facilitate completion of both degrees.  
• Shared credits: Graduate level credit hours taken during the undergraduate program and then applied towards graduate program requirements will be referred to as shared credits.

Admission Requirements

Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s programs are designed to enhance opportunities for advanced training for Loyola’s undergraduates. Admission to these programs must be competitive and will depend upon a positive review of credentials by the program’s admissions committee. Accordingly, the admission requirements for these programs may be higher than those required if the master’s degree were pursued entirely after the receipt of a bachelor’s degree. That is, programs may choose to have more stringent admissions requirements in addition to those minimal requirements below.

Requirements:

• Declared appropriate undergraduate major,
• By the time students begin taking graduate courses as an undergraduate, the student has completed approximately 90 credit hours, or the credit hours required in a program that is accredited by a specialty organization,¹
• A minimum cumulative GPA for coursework at Loyola that is at or above the program-specific requirements, a minimum major GPA that is at or above the program-specific requirements, and/or appropriate designated coursework for evaluation of student readiness in their discipline.²

Students not eligible for the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program (e.g., students who have not declared the appropriate undergraduate major) may apply to the master’s program through the regular admissions process. Students enrolled in an Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program who choose not to continue to the master’s degree program upon completion of the bachelor’s degree will face no consequences.³

Ideally, a student will apply for admission (or confirm interest in proceeding towards the graduate degree in opt-out programs) as they approach 90 credit hours. Programs are encouraged to begin advising students early in their major so that they are aware of the program and, if interested, can complete their bachelor’s degree requirements in a way that facilitates completion of the program. Once admitted as an undergraduate, Program Directors should ensure that students are enrolled using the plan code associated with the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program. Using the plan code associated with the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program will ensure that students may be easily identified as they move through the program. Students will not officially matriculate into the master’s degree program and be labeled as a graduate student by the university, with accompanying changes to tuition and Financial Aid (see below), until the undergraduate degree has been awarded. Once admitted to the graduate program, students must meet the academic standing requirements of their graduate program as they complete the program curriculum.

¹

Programs that have specialized accreditation will adhere to the admissions criteria provided by, or approved by, their specialized accreditors.

²

The program will identify appropriate indicators of student readiness for graduate coursework (e.g., high-level performance in 300 level courses). Recognizing differences between how majors are designed, we do not specify a blanket requirement.

³

If students choose not to enroll in the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program, they still must complete all of the standard requirements associated with the undergraduate degree (e.g., a capstone).

For more information on Admissions requirements, visit here.

Curriculum

Level and progression of courses. The Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s programs are designed to be competitive and attractive to our most capable students. Students admitted to Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s programs should be capable of meeting graduate level learning outcomes. Following guidance from the Higher Learning Commission, only courses taken at the 400 level or higher (including 300/400 level courses taken at the 400 level) will count toward the graduate program.^1,2  Up to 50% of the total graduate level credit hours, required in the graduate program, may come from 300/400 level courses where the student is enrolled in the 400 level of the course. Further, at least 50% of the credit hours for the graduate program must come from courses that are designed for and restricted to graduate students who have been admitted to a graduate program at Loyola (e.g., enrolled in plan code that indicates the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program, typically ending with the letter “D”).³

In general, graduate level coursework should not be taken prior to admission into the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program. Exceptions may be granted for professional programs where curriculum for the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program is designed to begin earlier. On the recommendation of the program’s Graduate Director, students may take one of their graduate level courses before they are admitted to the Accelerated Bachelors/Master’s program if they have advanced abilities in their discipline and course offerings warrant such an exception.⁴ Undergraduate degree requirements outside of the major are in no way impacted by admission to an Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program.⁵

Shared credits. Undergraduate courses (i.e., courses offered at the 300 level or below) cannot be counted as shared credits nor count towards the master’s degree. Up to 50% of the total graduate level credit hours, required in the graduate program, may be counted in meeting both the undergraduate and graduate degree requirements. Of those shared credits, students in an Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program should begin their graduate program with the standard introductory course(s) for the program whenever possible. So that students may progress through the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program in a timely manner, undergraduate programs are encouraged to design their curriculum such that a student can complete some required graduate credit hours while completing the undergraduate degree. For instance, some of the graduate curriculum should also satisfy electives for the undergraduate major.

The program’s Graduate Director will designate credit hours to be shared through the advising form and master’s degree conferral review process. Shared credit hours will not be marked on the undergraduate record as having a special status in the undergraduate program. They will be included in the student’s undergraduate earned hours and GPA. Graduate credit hours taken during the undergraduate program will not be included in the graduate GPA calculation.

¹

If students wish to transfer credits from another university to Loyola University Chicago, the program’s Graduate director will review the relevant syllabus(es) to determine whether it meets the criteria for a 400 level course or higher.

²

Programs with specialized accreditation requirements that allow programs to offer graduate curriculum to undergraduate students will conform to those specialized accreditation requirements.

³

In rare cases, the Graduate Director may authorize enrollment in a 400-level course for a highly qualified and highly motivated undergraduate, ensuring that the undergraduate's exceptional participation in the graduate class will not diminish in any way the experience of the graduate students regularly enrolled.

⁴

For example, if a particular course is only offered once every 2-3 years, and a student has demonstrated the necessary ability to be successful, the Graduate Director may allow a student to take a graduate level course to be shared prior to the student being formally admitted to the graduate program. See, also, footnote 3.

⁵

Students should not, for example, attempt to negotiate themselves out of a writing intensive requirement on the basis of admission to a graduate program.

Graduation

Degrees are awarded sequentially. All details of undergraduate commencement are handled in the ordinary way as for all students in the School/College/Institute. Once in the graduate program, students abide by the graduation deadlines set forth by the graduate program. Students in these programs must be continuously enrolled from undergraduate to graduate degree program unless given explicit permission by their program for a gap year or approved leave of absence. In offering the option of an Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program, the university is making possible the acceleration of a student’s graduate degree completion. It should be understood that students may not request deferral of their matriculation into the Master’s degree program. If students would like to delay their graduate studies after earning the undergraduate degree, they may apply for admission to the traditional master’s degree program. Any application of graduate credit earned while in the undergraduate program is subject to the policies of the graduate degree granting school.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Beginning with courses in ethics, environmental sciences, biology, mathematics, social sciences, and the humanities alongside epidemiology, biostatistics, health behavior and health promotion, and public health policy gained in the undergraduate public health program, students will graduate with public health competencies in the areas of evidence-based approaches, public health and health care systems, planning and management, policy, leadership, communication, interprofessional practice, and systems thinking.