Master of Science

The Master of Science (MS) degree is offered by the departments of  Biostatistics ,  Environmental Health Sciences ,  Epidemiology ,  Sociomedical Sciences , and  Population and Family Health .

While the primary focus of the MS curriculum is specialized knowledge, the Mailman School’s emphasis on interdisciplinary education ensures that students also gain a broad public health perspective that facilitates successful careers. Typical applicants are people with science backgrounds and/or experience in health, medicine, or science-related fields.

Biostatistics

The Department of Biostatistics offers five MS programs: ​

• Clinical Research Methods
• Pharmaceutical Statistics
• Statistical Genetics
• Theory and Methods
• Patient Oriented Research
• Public Health Data Science

Environmental Health Sciences

EHS students can choose a concentration in Environmental Toxicology or Environmental Health Data Science to prepare for challenging and fulfilling scientifically oriented careers in government, non-profits, pharmaceuticals, and academia. While finishing their degree in as little as 12 months, students also obtain valuable Applied Practice Experience (APEx) and complete a Master's research thesis.

• Toxicology
• Environmental Health Data Science

Epidemiology

MS students in Epidemiology select one of two program options, which differ only in their timeframe and schedule. The new Online MS program is meant for working professionals and meets for one long weekend a month for 22 months.

• MS in Epidemiology
• Online MS in Epidemiology

Population & Family Health

MS students who have started their careers will deepen their knowledge in a key concentration area of population and family health, such as maternal/child, youth and family health; sexuality, sexual and reproductive health; and public health and humanitarian assistance.

This program is designed to be either completed in 9 months over an academic year or part-time over 2-3 years, not to exceed 5 years.

Visit the  Population and Family Health  program page for more information.

Sociomedical Sciences

MS students in Sociomedical Sciences focus on the history and ethics of Public Health. Visit the  program  page for more information.

Since 1922, the Mailman School has been at the forefront of public health research, education, and community collaboration. Addressing everything from chronic disease to HIV/AIDS to healthcare policy, the School tackles today’s pressing public health issues, translating research into action.

The Mailman Difference

Around the world, increasingly complex challenges affect the health of current and future generations, including the climate crisis, humanitarian emergencies, urbanization, aging populations, and increasing health inequities.

Public health professionals work to protect and improve the health of people everywhere by advancing new knowledge, informing and influencing public policy, developing and implementing solutions, and promoting healthy behaviors.

Since our School’s founding in 1922, we have educated generations of public health leaders, advanced groundbreaking discoveries, and delivered innovative solutions to protect and improve the health of people everywhere. We weave together education, science, and social justice to address health disparities and advance health equity around the world.

Our world-class educational programs integrate an innovative skills-based curriculum, research collaborations, and hands-on field experience to prepare students for leadership roles in a range of industries and sectors, in professional practice, or in research and academia. Campus activities and events, support services, and a nurturing environment help students flourish and excel.

Our stellar faculty work across disciplines – biology, sociology, statistics, history, policy, and many more – to take public health from theory to practice through innovative research and programs around the globe. With a creative, entrepreneurial, and ambitious spirit, we advance discovery and solutions to tackle the biggest health challenges of the 21st century. Our research portfolio is among the largest at schools of public health, and we are home to dozens of research programs and labs, including ICAP, the Center for Infection and Immunity, and the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center.

Dynamic, diverse New York City and world-renowned Columbia University provide boundless opportunities for personal and professional growth. We work with diverse populations throughout the City’s five boroughs and in our local Washington Heights neighborhood on complex health issues, including HIV/AIDS education, prevention and care, smoking cessation initiatives, and programs to stem the growing asthma epidemic in our urban environment.

The most important difference? Our community. Inclusive, collaborative, and diverse, our culture is essential to our work, our students’ experience, and where they go from here.

A Strategic Vision for the 21st Century

In May 2008, Columbia University announced the appointment of Dr. Linda P. Fried as dean of the Mailman School. A national leader in the field of geriatric health and epidemiology, Dean Fried previously led Johns Hopkins' Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Program in Epidemiology of Aging.

From the outset, Dean Fried has engaged faculty, students, alumni, and key stakeholders to identify the role the Mailman School should play in addressing future public health challenges. Under this new strategic plan, the School will continue to focus on areas where it has traditionally excelled, such as HIV and other infectious diseases, mental health, reproductive health, and environmental health, and will build on the School's strong legacy of work in global and urban health, children's health, and food policy.

The plan also calls for building research strength and expertise in areas of critical importance in the 21st century, such as chronic disease prevention, climate and health, systems science, and ensuring the health of an aging society by taking a life course approach to the prevention of disease and disability. All of these initiatives require focus, multi-level analysis, new health system models, and interdisciplinary collaboration and leadership.

The School's educational mission has also been a cornerstone of Dean Fried's tenure. In the last few years, Dean Fried has led an intensive schoolwide effort that involved more than 150 members of the faculty, plus students, alumni, and employers, to reshape the School's MPH curriculum. The new programs, the Columbia MPH and Accelerated MPH, provide the broad systemic understanding, critical thinking skills, and leadership training needed to tackle today’s complex public health challenges.

FORWARD

Central to public health—and the Mailman School’s mission—is ensuring equal access to conditions that ensure health and well-being for all. There is extensive evidence that a history of cumulative systemic disadvantage has resulted in significant harm, racialized disparities, and poor health for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other people of color [BIPOC] in the US and throughout the world. We have a fundamental duty as public health educators, researchers, scientists, and practitioners to contribute to the dismantling of systemic racism that exists throughout the United States that allows this toxic situation to fester.

We recognize that we are falling short of our mission, especially as the U.S. history of racism is embedded within the field of public health and within our academic institutions. Even with Columbia Mailman’s longstanding dedication and leadership in advancing scientific understanding of the drivers of health inequity, applying this understanding to improving health for all, and making it a cornerstone of our students’ education; we recognize the need for a deeper commitment to undoing systemic racism, first within our own institution and then beyond the walls of our School.

Forging a Path FORWARD

In summer 2020, Dean Linda Fried and the senior leadership team launched Columbia Public Health FORWARD (Fighting Oppression, Racism and White Supremacy through Action, Research, and Discourse) to accelerate the transformation of our school into an antiracist, multicultural, and fully inclusive institution in all aspects of its culture and operations, as well as into a global leader in dismantling the toxic structures that continue to support racism and health inequities. Our goal is both to transform ourselves and our world and to provide a model and roadmap for other academic institutions to follow suit.

Through FORWARD, we will take the concrete actions needed to realize our goals by building:

• An anti-racist institutional culture and environment
• A strong pipeline of BIPOC students into Columbia Mailman and then into the field of public health beyond the School.
• New cohorts of BIPOC faculty and staff who are fully supported and have the resources needed to launch their careers
• A broad program of authentic, active, and ongoing engagements with local, marginalized communities
• A more robust school-wide health equities, systemic racism, and structural violence research effort

Accreditation

Mailman School of Public Health Accreditation

The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that accredits schools of public health. CEPH’s mission assures “quality in public health education and training to achieve excellence in practice, research, and service, through collaboration with organization and community partners.”

As a member of the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health, the Mailman School of Public Health was reaccredited in 2010 and has begun the next process for re-accreditation.

In addition, the Department of Health Policy and Management is a member of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration. The management programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).

Self-study

CEPH’s accreditation procedure requires the Mailman School to undergo an extensive self-study that provides a qualitative and quantitative assessment of how well the School achieves its mission, goals, and objectives and meets the accreditation criteria, as well as a candid assessment of strengths and weaknesses in terms of the School’s performance against the accreditation criteria. The self-study process engaged individuals from across the Mailman School and our key constituent groups.

An external committee organized by CEPH is reviewing the self-study and conducting a site visit. The site visit team consisted of public health academics, practitioners, and accreditation specialists who met with the School’s senior leadership, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners, as well as the senior leadership of CUMC and the University. A link to the 2016-2017 self-study can be found here.

Columbia University in the city of New York accreditation

Columbia University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 267-284-5000 (MSCHE). Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, MSCHE is one of six regional higher education accrediting agencies in the United States working to define, maintain, and promote educational excellence across higher education institutions.