The NDSU Master of Public Health online hybrid program is now included in the Western Regional Graduate Program, beginning with fall semester 2016. 

Inclusion means students who are residents in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education states pay North Dakota resident tuition if they meet requirements of the online program. These states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

“Being included is an opportunity for our Master of Public Health program to recruit students from these states and the tribal communities in these states,” explained Stefanie Meyer, academic coordinator and lecturer in the Department of Public Health in the College of Health Professions. “Students can stay in their community and complete their Master of Public Health from NDSU at a distance.” 

The Master of Public Health program applied to the Western Regional Graduate Program this past winter. NDSU offers the only Master of Public Health program in the nation with an emphasis on American Indian Public Health. Students in the NDSU program also can choose from additional areas of specialization such as management of infectious diseases, health promotion and public health in clinical systems. 

The NDSU MPH program is offered both on-campus and through distance education formats. The program draws faculty from microbiology, pharmacy, nursing, medicine, and health, nutrition and exercise science. 

The discipline of public health focuses on improving the general health of communities through efforts to monitor the spread of diseases, initiatives to prevent disease and disability, and by promoting healthy lifestyles through education and community engagement.