Department Contact:
Chair: Dr. Theresa Horner, thorner@francis.edu, 814-472-3357
Program Description:
The BA/BS Public Health and Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) is an accelerated program that serves to reduce the total time and expenses it would take to complete a traditional undergraduate and graduate degree program in Public Health. The Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Program allows students to fast-track their education and more rapidly enter the workforce. The program permits students to complete their undergraduate Public Health degree requirements and the MPH degree requirements (42 credits) in less than 5 years. The program design allows undergraduate students to earn undergraduate and graduate credits simultaneously in less time than if they were to pursue separate degrees. Students are able to move fluidly from an undergraduate degree into graduate studies without losing focus and earn a two-year master’s degree in five years through a “4+1” program.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- 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 in 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.
Admission Requirements:
In addition to common University admission requirements, the program requires the following for direct accepted students in the BA/BS Public Health/Accelerated MPH Program:
● Test Optional: Applicants with a GPA of 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale
-or-
● GPA lower than 3.5 on a 4.0 scale will be required to submit an SAT score of 1150 or higher in critical reading and math or an ACT composite score of 22 or higher
Progression and/or Retention Criteria:
All students in the BA/BS Public Health/Accelerated Program must meet the following academic requirements in order to have guaranteed direct admission to the MPH program upon completion of the undergraduate degree requirements. Failure to meet the progression standards may result in dismissal from the major but not the university. To remain in good standing with the program, students in the PH Accelerated Program must meet the following requirements:
1. Earn a minimum 2.75 cumulative QPA upon completion of 60 credits towards program completion. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the students being placed on one semester of academic probation, at which time if the 2.75 requirement is not met, they will be dismissed from the Public Health Accelerated MPH major.
2. Earn a minimum 3.00 cumulative QPA upon completion of 90 credits towards program completion. Failure to meet this requirement will result in dismissal from the PH Accelerated MPH major
3. Upon beginning the graduate portion of the program, students must maintain a cumulative QPA of 3.20 or higher for the remainder of the program. Failure to meet this requirement will result in dismissal from the major.
Students dismissed from the Public Health Accelerated MPH major should contact the Center for Academic Success to select another major. Students who are dismissed may still apply for admission to the MPH program upon completion of their undergraduate degree, however, there is no accelerated option available to these students, and acceptance into the program is not guaranteed.
Graduation Requirements:
Undergraduate:
A candidate for Public Health BS/BA graduation must satisfy the following requirements:
- Complete all requirements for an approved program of study;
- Complete the minimum number of credits (128 for a bachelor’s degree; 64 for an associate’s degree);
- Repeat for an acceptable passing grade any course required for the major in which the grade of “F” has been received;
- Complete the last 30 credits for the degree at SFU;
- Achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or better in all courses taken at SFU;
- Achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or better in all major or collateral requirements;
- Satisfy the requirements of the General Education core curriculum;
- Satisfy the capstone requirement as specified by the major department(s);
- Submit a completed Application for Degree form at least one semester prior to graduation date; and
- Satisfy financial obligations to the University.
Graduate:
A candidate for MPH 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; and
- Satisfy financial obligations to the University.
Total Number of Credits Required:
161 credits