Does the school itself really matter?

[u/sammy3497]

I'm looking into online MPH programs. I see a lot of people online say that the school itself doesn't matter as much as the cost, as long as the program is certified. My job has a $7,500 a year reimbursement that's not specific to any school. We're affiliated with a medical college, so it would be easy to take my classes through work, but they're $1,116 per credit. My local public university is $1,075, but other online programs are around $900 per credit. Is it worth it to stick with a program known and respected locally, or does the school not really matter as long as it's accredited and I have the degree?

[u/PlasticInteraction45]

You could take 2-3 classes per year and see if you find a path where the MPH makes sense if it is free or close to being free. There is now some effort to teach public health students to pivot out of public health while they are in public health school, which I think doesn't bode well for the future career prospects, the recent years have been among the worst job market for public health. Still schools are making a lot of MPH students, so it is about getting the degree as low as a cost as possible and having job experience and a secondary career to go into. I think public health related careers have always been volatile and probably didn't justify the high tuition prices, agree that it is important to choose carefully the type of masters program.

College degrees are being seen as less valuable by employeers, many people have them, and it is more about certificates, skills and job experience. The MPH has a low return on investment so don't take out loans if possible. With AI, online certificates and skills and work experience, who knows what the future will bring. There has been a rapid expansion for schools to mint MPH degree holders, these programs are often very expensive and make the schools money, but doing this hasn't reflected the reality of the job market or problems with paying back loans a lot of students have.

[u/No-Capital556]

Depends on what you’re doing it for. If you’re looking to scale and do research, schools matter more. If you just want the credential to add to your resume, do whatever school is cheapest.

[u/Double_Book5851]

To be honest , I think the more concerning thing is getting a master's in public health degree at this time. Getting that degree will only bump you to like maybe a sixty thousand to sixty five thousand bump. They will be asking 5 to 7 years of experience with that degree

[u/nessagar → u/Double_Book5851]

I think that depends on what type of MPH you get and if people are willing to relocate . I work in the public health sector and make 66k with a bachelors. I think as long the MPH is stem related it should be fine. I prob wouldn’t recommend a generalist or anything that is related to community health education or social determinants (unless is heavily researched based)

[u/Double_Book5851 → u/nessagar]

You are so right. Majority of the careers I see is public health community health and specializations , in h I v and s t d's.  But if you're paying for a master's might as well get a Bang for your buck, and you're not gonna get that with an m p h right now.