Dual Master of Public Administration - Master of Public Health

MPA/MPH

The School of Public Affairs and the Colorado School of Public Health jointly sponsor the dual Master of Public Administration/Master of Public Health degree program. The dual degree program provides students to opportunity to take the core of both programs and choose electives that suit their career and personal goals. Electives in one program are allowed to count as an elective in the other.

The Program at a Glance

School: School of Public Affairs Campus: CU Denver Classroom: Online and on campus classes Credits required for completion: 60 Maximum transfer credits: 6 Application deadline: Fall: August 1, 2019; Spring: December 1, 2020; Summer: May 1, 2020

The Details

General requirements

Review CU Denver's Graduate Academic Policies.

Program requirements

  • The dual degree program requires 60 credit hours of graduate coursework
  • A maximum of 6 transfer credit hours may be applied to the degree requirements.
  • Students at the University are expected to maintain progress in their degree program, as defined by being in "good academic standing." Good academic standing requires minimally a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on all University of Colorado course work.

Required courses

Students must complete the 13 required core courses below, for a total of 38 credit hours. All course descriptions can be found in the Graduate Academic Catalog.

  • PUAD 5001 - Introduction to Public Administration and Public Service (3 credit hours)
  • PUAD 5002 - Organizational Management and Behavior (3 credit hours)
  • PUAD 5003 - Research and Analytic Methods (3 credit hours)
  • PUAD 5004 - Economics and Public Finance (3 credit hours) -OR- PUAD 5503 Public Budgeting and Finance (3 credit hours)
  • PUAD 5005 - The Policy Process and Democracy (3 credit hours)
  • PUAD 5006 - Public Service Leadership and Ethics (3 credit hours)
  • PUAD 5008 - Evidence-Based Decision-Making (3 credit hours)
  • BIOS 6601 - Applied Biostatistics (3 credit hours)
  • EPID 6630 - Epidemiology (3 credit hours)
  • EHOH 6614 - Environmental and Occupational Health (3 credit hours)
  • CBHS 6610 - Social and Behavioral Factors and Health (3 credit hours)
  • HSMP 6601 - Health Systems, Management and Policy (3 credit hours)
  • PUBH 6600 - Foundations in Public Health (2 credit hours)

In addition, students must take PUBH 6606 - Practicum (2 credit hours) and PUBH 6955 - MPH Master Project (2 credit hours). Preservice students are also required to take PUAD 6910 - Internship.

Elective courses

In addition to the required courses, students must complete 18 credit hours of elective courses (6 credit hours from the School of Public Affairs and 12 credit hours from the School of Public Health) Elective courses must be approved by the program directors. All course descriptions can be found in the Graduate Academic Catalog.

Admissions Requirements

View the admissions requirements for the School of Public Affairs.