MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
APPLICATION DETAILS
Participants in the UIC Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Administration programs will obtain a broad understanding of all levels of public policy, effective approaches to organizational management, and the ability to apply ethical standards to everyday situations to succeed in this dynamic and challenging environment. The UIC School of Public Health is fully accredited by the Council on Education in Public Health.
REQUIREMENTS
LEARNING OUTCOMES Students will pursue coursework in public policy development and public health management while learning the basic principles of public health. The curriculum is intended to prepare students to address complex public health issues in policy centered institutions including government and non-government agencies. Through our Field Experience students will have the opportunity to gain practical experience in a public health setting and to apply and integrate the skills and knowledge learned during their graduate study in a realworld application. This culminating Field Experience is required of all MPH students. The Field Experience may be taken in a single semester or over several semesters for a total of 3-5 SH.
• Every applicant is given a holistic evaluation of his/her application. No one application criterion will determine an applicant’s admission or denial. • ELIGIBILITY: Eligible applicants must possess a baccalaureate degree from an accredited school. • Application to the Master of Public Health program must be completed with the submission of two forms: the Schools of Public Health Application Service (SOPHAS) form and a UIC supplemental application fee form. • Statement of Purpose and Objectives. • U.S. Transcripts — Applicants must provide a separate official transcript from every US institution attended. All official transcripts must be sent directly to SOPHAS. • GRE SCORES — The MPH program is highly competitive, so successful applicants typically have scores of at least 150 on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the test respectively. Official Standardized Test Scores should be sent to UIC (UIC-SPH code: 7931; or UIC General Code: 1851). Scores sent to the 7931 code will be automatically forwarded to SOPHAS. • Three letters of recommendation • A TOEFL is required for students with international degrees
APPLICATION DEADLINES 'RPHVWLF applicant International applicant
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For more information, please visit go.uic.edu/HPA
MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
*The schoolwide integrated core classes (IPHS 401, 402 (404/405 for online), and 403 will be taken during your first year in the program. **3 elective credit hours will be required for Professional Enhancement Program (PEP) students and 9 elective credit hours will be required for Comprehensive Program students. ***Pending approval
How UIC is defying the odds and actually growing By Lynne Marek January 26, 2018 Student enrollment is dropping at many major local universities, but one school is defying the trend: University of Illinois at Chicago. UIC is at peak enrollment after three years of growth. In this, the Near West Side campus is moving in tandem with the region's pricier players, University of Chicago and Northwestern University, where enrollment is up slightly. Meanwhile, DePaul University, Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University grapple with a downward slide. UIC is capitalizing on what the school says is a post-millennial preference for urban settings, and it's likely benefiting from the school's affordability, too, while peers try to adapt to the baby boom's bust. Universities nationwide grew accustomed to rising enrollments when boomers' kids were registering, but the number of high school graduates has plateaued and is expected to be lower in a decade. "Chicago is very attractive, very attractive as a location, and UIC's presence in the global rankings helps recruit internationally, so, for all of these reasons, I expect the trends to continue," says Michael Amiridis, a native of Greece and former professor of chemical engineering who became UIC's chancellor in 2015. BREAKING GROUND In November, UIC broke ground on an engineering school building, and if it's completed, it will be the first new building in 13 years. It broke ground twice before during that periodâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with an Illinois governor on hand each timeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but the prior construction plans never got sufficient state funding. Amiridis is confident this one will, despite spending his first two UIC years wondering when Illinois would pass a state budget. The school's prospects are so bright that it also recently joined with a private developer to build its first new residence hall since 2007, which will also house lecture halls, classrooms and offices. In addition, UIC announced in November that it may absorb nearby John Marshall Law School to create the only public law school in Chicago. UIC's freshman class jumped 23 percent this year to 4,000 students, without lowering acceptance standards, and overall headcount rose nearly 5 percent to 30,539. By contrast, enrollment is down for the sixth consecutive year at DePaul, where student headcount has declined 10 percent to 22,769 this year, from a recent high of 25,398 in 2011. Enrollment at Columbia also has been edging down for five years, with a 10 percent decrease this year to 7,312 students. The number of U.S. high school graduates climbed about 2 percent annually for nearly two decades between 1995 and 2013, but then stalled at about a half-percent growth in recent years, says Peace Bransberger, co-author of a Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education report on the trend. That 2016 study, "Knocking at the College Door," suggests the number of graduates will plateau now at about 3.5 million for years before declining. It's "a pretty significant slowdown," she says. Declines are concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast, while the South and West continue to expand graduate tallies. The state of Illinois should be focused on consolidation in higher education to adapt to the new demographics, says Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, an independent government research organization with business and professional members. "The state has been almost absent in the response to those challenges," he says. Rural Illinois schools have been struggling with the downturn, too, and consolidating as a result. BUDGET WOES The state's nearly two-year budget impasse didn't help matters. Illinois finally got a budget last year after a bipartisan coalition overrode Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto. Reductions in state funding for schools and financial aid for students through the Monetary Award Program, or MAP grants, took a serious toll at some colleges during the budget standoff. Roosevelt President Ali Malekzadeh largely blames that for the disappearance of 1,400 students at his school. "A bunch of them dropped out and they said, 'Sorry, I can't close a hole of $5,000 in my financial aid,' " Malekzadeh says. "We know once you drop out how hard it is to come back." Malekzadeh also notes how difficult it is for a school like Roosevelt, with a $110 million endowment, to compete for students with rivals like University of Notre Dame, which can use its $11.8 billion endowment to offer big scholarships. To adapt, Roosevelt, based in the South Loop, has cut costs, restructured administration, added graduate degree programs and embarked on plans to boost its percentage of adult transfer and commuter students, who tend to require fewer services and are easier to retain. 1/2
DePaul, the largest Catholic university in the country, with a nearly $600 million budget, had its fourth-biggest freshman class ever this school year, but a drop in transfer students from community colleges hurt enrollment overall. "Our enrollment has been declining, like a lot of other institutions in this part of the country and in the Northeast because you have demographics working against you," says President Gabriel Esteban, who took the post last year. "You have competition ratcheting up. You also have, the middle class really hasn't recovered fully from the last recession." DePaul has its main undergraduate campus in Lincoln Park and a Loop location that caters mainly to graduate students. To counter the trends, Esteban expects to expand degree programs in health sciences, given health care's role as a major component of the economy, and add more recruiters in parts of the country where high school graduation rates are still on the rise. After developing a strategic plan this year, he also aims to kick off a fundraising campaign to expand the school's $492 million endowment. UIC uniquely couples a top research university education with the cityscape appeal of its campus, Amiridis says. Of public universities, only City University of New York, also a top research institution by Carnegie Classification standards, has that mix of attributes, he argues. UIC's relatively low cost undoubtedly adds to its attractiveness at a time when tuition rates nationwide have been rising. The University of Illinois System, which includes campuses in Urbana-Champaign and Springfield, has kept tuition at the same level for four years to maintain affordability. UIC tuition this year for a full-time undergraduate was $10,584, with mandatory fees of $3,132, for an annual full-freight rate of $13,716. One-third of UIC undergraduates pay less than $1,000 out-of-pocket in tuition and fees per semester, when aid and grants are taken into account. Some $350 million in federal research grants annually helped UIC weather the budget stalemate, but it still depleted reserves to $35 million, from about $155 million. To rebuild and keep growing, Amiridis aims to raise$90 million annually for the next five years. He's currently attracting almost all his freshmen from Illinois and a large percentage of minorities, with about 40 percent graduating from Chicago public schools and nearly 70 percent African-American, Latino or Asian-American. Still, Amiridis is quick to note a new UIC global recruitment program snagged 200 students from abroad this year. There's no such thing as too many growth strategies at the moment.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20180126/ISSUE01/180129903?template=printart
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