I am in the U Mass Amherst online MPH in public health practice. I selected it because you can do the degree and still keep working your full time job. I could not afford to quit work and go to school full time again and I don't think I could stand to take more than one course at a time anyway. The program is accredited, is very affordable and in my home state. You can take up to four years to complete it and therefore spread the cost over four years. I did not want to take out any student loans and my employer pays for part of the cost with tuitition reimbursement. You need 42 credits and if you take one course a term (fall, winter, 2 summer) you can complete everything in 4 years. I only have my practicum and capstone project to do and should graduate next spring. The summer courses condense a semester of work into five weeks and are therefore very fast paced and after taking those, the regular semester classes seem to take forever. The various courses vary in the demands that are made and in the way they are conducted. You have to be very familiar and comfortable with the internet and interacting with other individuals over the internet. You do not have to spend any time on the campus (I have never set foot on the campus in Amherst). For me, it was either do the MPH this way or not do it at all.
