University of Chicago's new MPH

[siyoi]

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So I just got accepted to UChicago's non-accredited new MPH program. Like, I'd literally be in the first class ever. I'm basically posting this to see if attending this would be a bad idea.

Obviously the school is good, but their MPH is brand new, and they don't pop up on the CEPH accreditation search, so their PhD isn't accredited either I guess.

From my research, it's pretty clear that accreditation is important. However, I'm currently in my 2nd semester in an MS Bio program at a different school, which is not really where I want to be - I'm not really interested in actual hard sciences like molecular or genetics anymore - I've found a liking for biostats, which is why I applied to this MPH. So it's basically either finishing this MS Bio program, or a non accredited MPH, or something else that I haven't thought of. If I were to do an MPH, I'd probably want to continue into a PhD.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks

 

[CarissasWeird]

First off, congrats!

Accreditation is important for some fed jobs or others that explicitly require it, but otherwise if you go to a reputable university (which UChicago obviously is) you don't have a ton to worry about. Look into potential jobs/fellowships/etc. you'd be interested in and see what they require to be sure.

If I was in your shoes, I'd look at the faculty to see if there are any that really focus on what I'm personally interested in. Going to a "name-brand" institution is largely for connections and networking, and if you choose to pursue UChicago, I'd really make sure you can establish a good base for that. I believe they've had a PhD program for public health sciences for a good while, so I imagine they likely have some good folks teaching/serving as resources for this new program.

My biggest flag, is that tuition alone looks to be at least ~80K. For a first-year, non-accredited program that's pretty steep considering there are no stats to back up the benefits you get for paying that much. Do you get any aid? I believe a lot of programs do some sort of giant discount (if not entirely waive tuition) for the first incoming class. I think that's a pretty enormous sum when you could go to a state school with proven track records of student success for a lot cheaper.

Lastly, have you applied for/gotten into any other MPH programs? Tbh the only scenario I could see myself feeling comfortable with the program is if they can promise some sort of job/salary postgrad or with a lofty scholarship.