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Master of Public Health
MPH in Epidemiology

Earn Your Master of Public Health in Epidemiology Online

Kent State University's STEM-designated Online MPH in Epidemiology program builds the advanced analytical and research skills that define epidemiological leadership. Through rigorous training from a nationally ranked institution, you'll master the data-driven expertise to address global health challenges, promote health equity, and lead in public, private and nonprofit sectors. You'll graduate prepared for high-impact roles in disease surveillance, outbreak investigation and population health research.

#10
Best Online Master’s in Public Health Program1
—Fortune

Program Snapshot

  • 100% online course delivery
  • Three annual start dates: fall, spring and summer
  • Focused seven- and 15-week courses
  • Curriculum includes applied practice experience
  • No GRE required
  • Complete your degree in as few as 24 months

Benefits of a STEM-Designated Program

STEM-designated public health programs offer key advantages:

  • Extended OPT for international students: Up to 36 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT), giving additional time to gain U.S.-based work experience after graduation
  • In-demand skills for domestic students: Training in data analysis, quantitative methods, and technical skills valued across public health fields
  • Rigorous, analytical focus: The STEM designation highlights the program’s emphasis on evidence-based, data-driven approaches to public health challenges.

Recognized for Excellence

The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) accredit our online MPH programs, ensuring adherence to the highest educational standards. This accreditation, combined with our #10 national ranking and Quality Matters certification, reflects our commitment to excellence in online public health education.

Our Military Friendly Gold Designation recognizes Kent State University's outstanding service to the extended military community and all our students.

#10 Best Online MPH - Top 4.1% Global 2000 Universities

Build the Career You Want

Take your career to a higher level with Kent State’s affordable, flexible undergraduate and graduate public health programs. Our 100% online programs allow you to keep up with your current responsibilities while you study. Find out how these programs can help you create the career and positive public health impact you want to have.

Download our guide to learn more about:

  • Career Opportunities
  • Customizing Your Degree
  • The Student Experience
  • Admission Requirements
  • Tuition and Financial Aid

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An Extra Incentive - $3,000 Tuition Offset

If you’re a first-time enrollee in our Master of Public Health online program, we’re delighted to offer a $3,000 tuition offset as an extra incentive to help you complete the degree and reach your career education goal. Please read the full description of the offer and its conditions on the Tuition and Financial Aid page.

See the Details

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Committed to Your Success

You’ll thrive at Kent State thanks to uniquely personalized instruction, tutoring and applied practice experience support. The close-knit learning environment, small class sizes, robust online student portal and dedicated faculty help you build the professional connections and competencies that define successful public health careers.

  • Dedicated tutoring support for your biostatistics courses ensures your mastery of essential analytical skills
  • Faculty mentors work closely with you to secure applied practice experiences aligned with your career goals

From Kent State MPH to Air Force Epidemiologist

Hear how Victoria uses her MPH expertise to support the well-being of Air Force service members.

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Video Companion

Online MPH in Epidemiology Program Overview

Whether you’re a healthcare worker, public health professional, data analyst or recent college graduate, you’ll complete the STEM-designated Online MPH in Epidemiology program ready to make a difference in public health.

You’ll learn to:

  • Investigate disease outbreaks and preparedness
  • Determine causal relationships between environmental and biological factors
  • Conduct studies to project health trends in populations

With these skills, you can excel in important roles across sectors, including as a:

  • Disease prevention specialist in a hospital or other healthcare setting
  • Surveillance manager in a state or local health department
  • Data scientist with a government health agency

Already Working in the Field?

Our online Graduate Certificate in Clinical Research can serve as a direct pathway to the STEM-designated MPH in Epidemiology or the STEM-designated MS in Clinical Epidemiology, with certificate credits fully applicable toward your master's degree.

Exclusive Opportunity for Kent State University Undergraduates: The Combined Program

Launch your career sooner than you expected. In Kent State’s public health program, juniors and seniors with qualifying GPAs can apply up to 12 credit hours of coursework toward the public health bachelor’s and master’s degrees. By double-counting credits, you’ll start and complete your online MPH earlier than anticipated, save money on tuition and fees and be prepared to dive into your career ahead of your classmates and ahead of schedule. For more information, please contact an admissions outreach advisor at onlinedegrees@kent.edu or toll-free at +1 844-234-4073.

The Field is Growing—and Expertise Pays

16% Projected Job Growth for Epidemiologists, 2024-2034: Much Faster Than the National Average3

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The growing demand for epidemiologists is driven by advancements in healthcare technology and the need to address emerging diseases.4 With an MPH in Epidemiology, you'll be equipped for specialized roles that recognize your skills with competitive compensation:

$96,670
Average salary for Research Epidemiologists5
$85,222
Average salary for Environmental Epidemiologists6
$117,000
Median salary for Infection Control Epidemiologists7

We Do More for You

Kent State’s public health programs are already competitively priced. In addition, you may be eligible for scholarship support.

Explore Financial Aid

Smiling male Kent State student

Courses

The 46-credit-hour MPH degree is comprised of:

  • 10 major requirements (30 credits) 
  • Four major electives (12 credits)
  • Integrative learning experience and applied practice experience (4 credits)

Major Requirements (10 Courses, 30 Credits)

BST 52019 BIOSTATISTICS IN PUBLIC HEALTH (3 CREDITS)

The course provides students with an understanding of basic statistical methods in public health research, as well as the skills to perform and interpret basic statistical procedures. Students learn how to use statistical analysis software to analyze real data from public health-related studies. They then learn how to interpret the analysis and present the results to public health professionals and educated lay audiences. The course will include a lab component which will enhance student awareness and informed usage of SAS for public health analysis. Students will learn how to input, read, store, export and modify data in SAS and be able to use common SAS procedures to analyze public health data and conduct independent SAS programming.

BST 63014 APPLIED REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC HEALTH DATA (3 CREDITS)

(Cross-listed with BST 83014) This course focuses on developing student proficiency in building and evaluating various regression models for public health studies. Topics covered include exploratory and descriptive methods, simple and multiple linear regression models, predictor selection, binary and multinomial logistic regression models, survival analysis, repeated measures and generalized linear models.

EHS 52018 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CONCEPTS IN PUBLIC HEALTH (3 CREDITS)

Human beings may be the predominant form of life on Earth today, but our health, well-being and, indeed, survival depend on the quality and integrity of the environment in which we live. The course provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the major environmental health issues facing the world today. This course focuses on the present population-resources-pollution crisis and explains why human health, well-being and welfare depend on successful resolution of current environmental health challenges. Students will be exposed to the information on how current environmental problems and issues affect human health and well-being and learn practical examples of how specific environmental health problems could be resolved through more active individual participation and community involvement, socio-behavioral and healthy lifestyle changes, and more effective decision-making policies at local and national levels. The course reviews the latest developments on such environmental health issues and concerns as population growth and poverty, toxic environmental pollutants, indoor and outdoor air pollution, water contamination and wastewater treatment, solid and hazardous waste management, global climate change and sustainable development.

EPI 52017 FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC HEALTH EPIDEMIOLOGY (3 CREDITS)

This course introduces principles, methods and application of epidemiology. It covers the history of epidemiology, concepts of disease causation and prevention, measures of disease frequency and excessive risk, epidemiologic study designs, causal inference, outbreak investigation and screening. It also provides experience with calculation of rate standardization; measures of disease frequency, association and impact; and sensitivity and specificity of screening tests. Highlights applications of epidemiology to understanding of disease etiology, transmission, pathogenesis, prevention, evaluation and public policy development.

EPI 63014 EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHRONIC DISEASES (3 CREDITS)

(Slashed with EPI 83014) With a life course approach to chronic disease epidemiology, this course focuses on cardiovascular, respiratory, cerebrovascular diseases and cancer. Health and disease are addressed from a multicausal perspective, which includes individual behaviors; psychosocial issues; and sociodemographic, biological and physiological factors. Time points for prevention and intervention are identified.

EPI 63015 EPIDEMIOLOGY OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES (3 CREDITS)

(Slashed with EPI 83015) Surveys the history, principles, methods and practice of infectious disease epidemiology, by (1) defining and understanding infectious disease epidemiology surveys, (2) collecting and measuring surveillance data, (3) interpreting epidemiology data and (4) predicting evidence-based outcomes. Primarily a course in epidemiology, students learn some infectious disease microbiology as well.

EPI 63016 PRINCIPLES OF EPIDEMIOLOGIC RESEARCH (3 CREDITS)

(Slashed with EPI 83016) This course builds upon EPI 52017 to explore deeper the concepts and methods in epidemiologic research. It reviews the measures of disease frequency; association and impact; epidemiologic reasoning and causal inference; and methods and techniques for designing, implementing, analyzing and interpreting various epidemiologic study designs. It discusses advantages and limitations of various study designs and explores threats to validity, precision and generalizability of epidemiologic studies.

HPM 52016 PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (3 CREDITS)

Public health administration comprises efforts to improve the health of communities. This course provides an overview for public health administration and practice, including organization, law, legislative relations, financing, workforce issues, leadership and surveillance.

HPM 53010 COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT (3 CREDITS)

One of the core functions of public health, community assessment, facilitates problem-solving and policy development. It covers concepts and methods relevant to community health needs assessment, such as systems thinking, the use of quantitative and qualitative methods, primary and secondary data and the role of community assessment in current national policy, including the Affordable Care Act, on community health improvement. Students will draw from multiple disciplines to assess health status and its determinants (social, behavioral and environmental), needs for health services and the capacity and resources of the local community. Students will also learn to facilitate and evaluate the use of data for decision-making by partnerships, organizations and policymakers.

SBS 54634 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH BEHAVIORS (3 CREDITS)

This course provides overviews of the social determinants of health and the dynamic interplay between individual behaviors and community structures (systems orientation), including public policy, social and built environments, commercial messages, access to services, cultural norms, psychosocial hazards and poverty, both as causal effects that either provide opportunity or constraints to health. It also examines systems approaches to preventing public health threats from issues including substance abuse (alcohol, tobacco and other drugs), physical inactivity, poor dietary practices, unsafe sexual behaviors, violence and injury, and mental health.

Major Electives

Choose one course from Elective Group A and 3 courses from Elective Group B.

Elective Group A (1 Course, 3 Credits)

  • BST 60010 USING R IN PUBLIC HEALTH 
  • BST 60011 USING SAS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • BST 60012 USING EXCEL IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • BST 62020 DATA MANAGEMENT AND LOGIC USING SAS® SOFTWARE
  • BST 63012 SURVIVAL ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • BST 63013 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS IN PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH
  • EHS 52100 CLIMATE CHANGE AND POPULATION HEALTH
  • EHS 53014 BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH
  • EPI 50017 PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY
  • EPI 50018 REGULATORY AFFAIRS IN CLINICAL RESEARCH
  • EPI 52010 UNDERSTANDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
  • EPI 63019 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH
  • EPI 63020 ADVANCED EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL RESEARCH METHODS
  • EPI 63021 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PUBLIC HEALTH AND CLINICAL RESEARCH
  • EPI 63034 LONGITUDINAL DATA ANALYSIS
  • GEOG 59070 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE
  • GEOG 59071 FUNDAMENTALS OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE I
  • GEOG 59072 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND HEALTH
  • Any graduate course (50000 or 60000 level) with advisor approval

Elective Group B (3 Courses, 9 Credits)

  • BST 60010 USING R IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • BST 60011 USING SAS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • BST 60012 USING EXCEL IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • BST 62020 DATA MANAGEMENT AND LOGIC USING SAS® SOFTWARE
  • BST 63012 SURVIVAL ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  • BST 63013 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS IN PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH
  • EPI 63019 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH
  • EPI 63020 ADVANCED EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL RESEARCH METHODS
  • EPI 63021 ETHICAL ISSUES IN PUBLIC HEALTH AND CLINICAL RESEARCH
  • EPI 63034 LONGITUDINAL DATA ANALYSIS
  • Any 60000-level graduate course with advisor approval

Culminating Requirement

PH 61199 INTEGRATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCE (1 CREDIT)

Students complete an integrative learning experience that demonstrates a synthesis of foundational and concentration competencies. Students in consultation with faculty select foundational and concentration-specific competencies appropriate to the student’s educational and professional goals.

EPI 60192 APPLIED PRACTICE EXPERIENCE (3 CREDITS)

Observation of and participation in public health activities of a public health agency, hospital or other approved organization. The student completes the field experience with joint supervision from the university and approved organization or agency.
Researcher working in lab

Intent on a Career in Research?

The online MS in Clinical Epidemiology program teaches biostatistics, research methods and ethics, and clinical research design and management, preparing you for key roles in clinical trials and research management.

Learn More About the MS-CEPI

Have questions? We have answers.

Choosing the right online program comes with lots of questions, and our admissions outreach advisors are here to help you sort through them all. Connect with this friendly, knowledgeable team for personalized guidance. They’ll make sure you have everything you need to feel confident about your next steps at Kent State.

Schedule a Call
Send an Email
Kent State Student Success Coordinator

Admissions and Application Deadlines

Nov
17
Priority Application Deadline
Spring 2026 Term
Dec
22
Final Application Deadline
Spring 2026 Term
Jan
12
Class Start Date
Spring 2026 Term
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Sources
  1. From Fortune. ©2024 Fortune Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. Used under license. Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse the products or services of, Kent State University.
  2. Retrieved on August 28, 2025, from cwur.org/2025.phpcwur.org/2024.php
  3. Retrieved on August 28, 2025, from bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/epidemiologists.htm
  4. Retrieved on August 28, 2025, from bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/epidemiologists.htm#tab-6
  5. Retrieved on August 28, 2025, from ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Research-Epidemiologist-Salary
  6. Retrieved on August 28, 2025, from ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Environmental-Epidemiologist-Salary
  7. Retrieved on August 28, 2025, from glassdoor.com/Salaries/infection-control-epidemiologist-salary-SRCH_KO0,32.htm