What does credit mean? Difference between MPH & MSPH?

[DrDumbledore]

So i'm not from the US, and we don't have credit system in my country. Looking over the various MPH schools, i noticed all of them mention the tuition fee per credit. Can someone please explain to me what does it mean?


Also, what's the difference between MPH & MSPH? Which degree is more valuable?

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[Pudu2009]

Each class is worth a certain number of units (or credits). Where I go, the two hour classes are 2 units and the 3 hour classes are 3 units. Tuition per credit means that you are paying a certain amount for each credit you take. Say it costs $800 per credit, and you are taking 10 credits this semester. You would have to pay $8,000 in tuition. Most programs want you to complete a total of 40 - 50 credits to graduate. The problem with this system is you can't save money by graduating early, unlike undergrad where it is a fixed tuition per semester.

I will let someone else answer the second part of your question as I do not know anything about MSPH.

 

[DrDumbledore]

Each class is worth a certain number of units (or credits). Where I go, the two hour classes are 2 units and the 3 hour classes are 3 units. Tuition per credit means that you are paying a certain amount for each credit you take. Say it costs $800 per credit, and you are taking 10 credits this semester. You would have to pay $8,000 in tuition. Most programs want you to complete a total of 40 - 50 credits to graduate. The problem with this system is you can't save money by graduating early, unlike undergrad where it is a fixed tuition per semester.

I will let someone else answer the second part of your question as I do not know anything about MSPH.

Thank you, pudu! You're very helpful.

You mentioned that on an approx, a 2 hour class means 2 credits and so on. So does that mean an entire semester only has 10 or so hours of classes? Where is the rest of the time spent? Field work etc.?
So a couple of schools i checked, have tuition fee per semester. How many semesters do you have in the US, for an MPH program? I'm guessing 5-6.

When i'm assigning recipients for my GRE score, will I have to make a payment separately for all the programs i intend to apply to? I initially thought that I have to only select SOPHAS as my score recipient, as that is where my centralized application will be submitted. The same for TOEFL, and then for the SOPHAS application too? Damn, it'll get very expensive in that case.

Also, why do schools mention non-resident tuition fee more than double that of resident student's fee? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

I'm referring these links for info about good MPH schools: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...ols/top-health-schools/public-health-rankings
http://www.healthcare-management-degree.net/best/graduate-degree-in-public-health/
Are these legit? Do you remember any reliable websites from the time you applied?

Sorry if these questions sound stupid. American system is quite different from what we have here in India, and i'm trying to understand it well, lest I commit a blunder while applying.

 

[Stories]

Thank you, pudu! You're very helpful.

You mentioned that on an approx, a 2 hour class means 2 credits and so on. So does that mean an entire semester only has 10 or so hours of classes? Where is the rest of the time spent? Field work etc.?
So a couple of schools i checked, have tuition fee per semester. How many semesters do you have in the US, for an MPH program? I'm guessing 5-6.

When i'm assigning recipients for my GRE score, will I have to make a payment separately for all the programs i intend to apply to? I initially thought that I have to only select SOPHAS as my score recipient, as that is where my centralized application will be submitted. The same for TOEFL, and then for the SOPHAS application too? Damn, it'll get very expensive in that case.

Also, why do schools mention non-resident tuition fee more than double that of resident student's fee? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

I'm referring these links for info about good MPH schools: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...ols/top-health-schools/public-health-rankings
http://www.healthcare-management-degree.net/best/graduate-degree-in-public-health/
Are these legit? Do you remember any reliable websites from the time you applied?

Sorry if these questions sound stupid. American system is quite different from what we have here in India, and i'm trying to understand it well, lest I commit a blunder while applying.

The classes would be on either a per week or per meeting basis. If there's 15 weeks in a semester, just multiply the weeks by the number of classes met. Not all schools will use the same system, so for now, I'd ignore credit units. It's never been the same whatever school I've been to and not worth worrying about at this point.

Most MPH programs will be a 2 years of full-time study. Some can finish quicker, but not many.

It'll probably cost you several hundred dollars applying to every school. Maybe even into the $2000 range. That's not uncommon.

Resident vs non-resident is for public state schools. A resident of California will have cheaper tuition costs at a public California school (Cal, UCLA, UCSD, etc.). A non-California resident would pay non-resident tuition. At a private university, there is no distinction between resident and non-resident. This has nothing to do with your nationality.

Rankings are less important than program fit and your objectives. MPH isn't a field where only the top 5 schools' graduates get jobs.

 

[Pudu2009]

You mentioned that on an approx, a 2 hour class means 2 credits and so on. So does that mean an entire semester only has 10 or so hours of classes? Where is the rest of the time spent? Field work etc.?
So a couple of schools i checked, have tuition fee per semester. How many semesters do you have in the US, for an MPH program? I'm guessing 5-6.

The approximate hours are for my school only. I don't really know how other schools work. Typically, I spend 10 hours in class a week, and for every hour of class time, I spend about 2 to 3 hours outside of class studying. So I would say that I probably spend about 35 hours a week on school work alone. The rest of the time I spend hobbying, seeing the sites, and searching/applying for jobs. I plan to have a job by the end of September and work 20-30 hours a week. Some people have even managed to pull off working full-time while taking a full load; they are superhuman.

MPH program are typically two years long full-time, so usually four semesters and one or two summers. In most cases the practicum is done over the summer, although for some reason my school wants me to do mine next fall . Some people have demanding careers and elect to do the program part-time over three years. Still others are health professional and elect to do an 11-month accelerated program, but they have strict admissions requirements for that type of program.

When i'm assigning recipients for my GRE score, will I have to make a payment separately for all the programs i intend to apply to? I initially thought that I have to only select SOPHAS as my score recipient, as that is where my centralized application will be submitted. The same for TOEFL, and then for the SOPHAS application too? Damn, it'll get very expensive in that case.

You only need to send one transcript to SOPHAS. Unfortunately you do have to send GRE scores for each individual school. Just make sure that when you are ordering score reports that you pick "School Name (SOPHAS)" otherwise your score report will go directly to the university instead of SOPHAS, and then your application won't be complete. I don't know about TOEFL scores as I am not an international student. At least when your adding new designations, the application fees are much lower after to initial designation, so that helps a little.

Also, why do schools mention non-resident tuition fee more than double that of resident student's fee? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

This depends on whether you are applying to a state school or a private school. State schools always charge higher fees to those coming from out-of-state. In fact, the UCs are going through this right now; they are broke, so they are accepting more out-of-state students to make more money. The sad thing is, it was cheaper for me to go out-of-state than to stay in CA. Private schools, on the other hand, charge the same no matter what your residence status is; they also tend to charge per credit and be very expensive.

I'm referring these links for info about good MPH schools: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...ols/top-health-schools/public-health-rankings
http://www.healthcare-management-degree.net/best/graduate-degree-in-public-health/
Are these legit? Do you remember any reliable websites from the time you applied?

I really just used USNews and SDN during the application process. There is a tread stickied called helpful public health websites that you may want to check out too. I think one of the members even has his own MPH matching site which he provided a link to in the thread.

Sorry if these questions sound stupid. American system is quite different from what we have here in India, and i'm trying to understand it well, lest I commit a blunder while applying.

Don't worry about it, I'm happy to help.

 

[DrDumbledore]

Resident vs non-resident is for public state schools. A resident of California will have cheaper tuition costs at a public California school (Cal, UCLA, UCSD, etc.). A non-California resident would pay non-resident tuition. At a private university, there is no distinction between resident and non-resident. This has nothing to do with your nationality.

I'm an Indian citizen. So this isn't relevant to me, right? Since i'm going to be an International applicant and obviously i'm not a resident of any of the states in US.
I cannot find International student fee on schools websites. They only mention resident and non-resident fee. Or wait, the non-resident fee applies to me?

 

[DrDumbledore]

The approximate hours are for my school only. I don't really know how other schools work. Typically, I spend 10 hours in class a week, and for every hour of class time, I spend about 2 to 3 hours outside of class studying. So I would say that I probably spend about 35 hours a week on school work alone. The rest of the time I spend hobbying, seeing the sites, and searching/applying for jobs. I plan to have a job by the end of September and work 20-30 hours a week. Some people have even managed to pull off working full-time while taking a full load; they are superhuman.

MPH program are typically two years long full-time, so usually four semesters and one or two summers. In most cases the practicum is done over the summer, although for some reason my school wants me to do mine next fall . Some people have demanding careers and elect to do the program part-time over three years. Still others are health professional and elect to do an 11-month accelerated program, but they have strict admissions requirements for that type of program.

Thanks for the detailed response. Helps a lot.

You only need to send one transcript to SOPHAS. Unfortunately you do have to send GRE scores for each individual school. Just make sure that when you are ordering score reports that you pick "School Name (SOPHAS)" otherwise your score report will go directly to the university instead of SOPHAS, and then your application won't be complete. I don't know about TOEFL scores as I am not an international student. At least when your adding new designations, the application fees are much lower after to initial designation, so that helps a little.

Thanks for the heads up.

This depends on whether you are applying to a state school or a private school. State schools always charge higher fees to those coming from out-of-state. In fact, the UCs are going through this right now; they are broke, so they are accepting more out-of-state students to make more money. The sad thing is, it was cheaper for me to go out-of-state than to stay in CA. Private schools, on the other hand, charge the same no matter what your residence status is; they also tend to charge per credit and be very expensive.

I'm not able to tell which universities are state unis. It's the ones which have names "University of *insert state name*", right? Then how come some states have multiple state universities?
I have immediate family in California, so i'm considering the schools there. But I don't know which one of the 3 state unis of Cali is good, UCLA, Uni of California Berkely, or Uni of California Irvine? It's difficult figuring out which school is good in another country, when you have never visited or had first hand experience in those schools. Do you have any idea?

Just to confirm; since i'm an International applicant, I will be considered an out-of-state student at every school, right?

 

[Pudu2009]

By state school, I mean public school. The universities should say on their main website whether they are public or private. If not, you can usually tell on the tuition page since public schools will have separate fees for in-state and out-of -state while private schools will only have one tuition rate. AFAIK, there are no international fees, you are charged out-of-state tuition for public schools.

California has a ton of state schools, with the UC system and the CSU system. There are four UCs that offer MPH degrees, but UC Berkeley and UCLA are the top. There are also several CSUs that offer MPH programs, but they are only in community health education, except for SDSU which offers a wide range. But, don't go by program ranking. If your family is in San Diego and you want to live nearby, choose SDSU over Berkeley. Remember, it is not about what school you go to, it is about what you do while you are in school. Any program that is accredited by CEPH is a good program.

 

[Stories]

I'm an Indian citizen. So this isn't relevant to me, right? Since i'm going to be an International applicant and obviously i'm not a resident of any of the states in US.
I cannot find International student fee on schools websites. They only mention resident and non-resident fee. Or wait, the non-resident fee applies to me?

Right. Non-resident tuition fees is what you should look at. Also keep in mind that many schools only offer loans through the federal government for US citizens (or legal residents). International students may not be eligible for these loans. So keep that in mind, as well. You may have to get loans from a private financial institution or from an Indian-based lendor.

 

[WinsIII]

In terms of MPH vs MSPH, it's also worth noting that at least at Hopkins, they still consider the MSPH a professional degree as opposed to a research degree (it actually has a longer required internship experience than their MPH), it's just more focused on your specific concentration and meant for people who don't have a significant amount of prior public health work experience or a doctorate in a related field. I'm not sure if this is true at other schools.