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 this dual-degree program, which enables you to take the core of both programs, and choose electives that simultaneously count toward both programs and that suit your career and personal goals.

The Program at a Glance

School: School of Public Affairs Campus: CU Denver Classroom: Online and on campus classes Recommended completion time: 3 Years Credits required for completion: 60 Maximum transfer credits: 6 Maximum credits per year: In most cases, students wishing to take more than 18 credit hours per semester (12 in the summer session) must have the overload approved by the dean. Application deadline: Fall: August 1; Spring: December 1; Summer: May 1

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) plus Capstone Preparation (CBHS 6990, EPID 6990, HSMP 6990, BIOS 6990 or EHOH 6990) (1 credit) within their concentration and PUBH 6991 - MPH Capstone Integration (1 credit). Preservice students are also required to take PUAD 6910 - Internship.

Other courses

In addition to the required core courses, students must complete 6 credit hours of elective courses from the School of Public Affairs and 12 credit hours of concentration courses from the School of Public Health. Elective courses in the School of Public Affairs must be approved by the program director. View the available Master of Public Health concentrations. Dual-degree students can also create a custom MPH concentration in consultation with their Colorado School of Public Health advisor.

School of Public Affairs course descriptions can be found in the Graduate Academic Catalog. Colorado School of Public Health course descriptions can be found in the Colorado School of Public Health course book.

Admissions Requirements

View the admissions requirements for the School of Public Affairs.