MOSAIC student team member with film planning co-chair and panelist

4+1 Accelerated MPH in Community Health Education

Fast-track your education to a public health education master’s program.

Apply Now!

Community health professionals are on the frontlines of efforts to address health inequities and improve quality of life. UMass Amherst’s 4+1 BS/MPH in community health education prepares students to join them in this vital mission.

The 4+1 program is rigorous and demanding, offering eligible undergraduates a quick pathway to a terminal graduate degree. Students will finish the health education degree program with both a BS and an MPH degree, for a total of 162 credits.

MPH Community Health Education course requirements:

  • Five public health graduate core courses (15 credits)
  • Two community health education core courses (6 credits)
  • Three community health education core courses in community development, group dynamics, and communication theory (9 credits)
  • Two community health electives of your choice (6 credits)
  • Community applied practice experience (3 credits)
  • Integrative learning experience (3 credits)
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Get Started as an Undergraduate

The 4+1 Accelerated MPH program allows interested undergraduates to take 12 to 18 credits of graduate coursework in their senior undergraduate year (i.e., 6 to 9 credits of graduate coursework per semester during their senior year), and then complete their master’s degree with just one additional year of full-time graduate study. 

Epi student 2

Undergraduate Focus Area

The 4+1 focus area requirement allows students to explore areas of interest and relevance to public health and draw connections between disciplines. The classes students choose will enhance their understanding of the field and better prepare them for a career as a public health professional.

MOCHA

Practicum Experience

MPH community health education students complete an 80- to 100-hour community applied practice experience that demonstrates attainment of both foundational and concentration competencies. The practicum allows them to work with a community or public sector organization to assess public health needs.

Featured class

HPP 621
Health Care Organization and Administration

The theory of internal organization and management applied to health care organizations. Analysis of management functions. Interrelationships between health institutions, their surrounding communities, and government.

Featured faculty

See all Community Health Education faculty

Lawrence Pellegrini

Lawrence Pellegrini

Director, Online MPH in Public Health Practice Program
Senior Lecturer in Health Policy and Management

Focus on Social Security disability, health economics, mental health

Dr. Lawrence Pellegrini

Aline Gubrium

Aline Gubrium

Professor of Community Health Education
Program Head, Community Health Education

Focus on sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice; participatory digital, visual, and narrative research methodologies; health promotion

Aline Gubrium

Elizabeth Evans

Elizabeth Evans

Professor of Community Health Education
Acting Chair, Department of Health Promotion and Policy

Focus on opioids and other substances of abuse; women’s health; life course; social determinants; health services utilization and outcomes.

Elizabeth Evans

Application information & deadlines

Interested students should apply for the 4+1 program during their junior year and must meet all eligibility requirements. 

Fall Application Deadline

Students submit the 4+1 application to the department by February 1st.