Gonzaga Launching Master of Public Health in Fall 2025

Gonzaga University’s School of Health Sciences is proud to announce a new Master of Public Health (MPH) coming fall 2025. The fully online program is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skillset necessary to improve health and wellness across diverse populations.

In a world with no shortage of public health issues, degrees like this allow students to take a “health-promoting” approach and work from the ground up, preventing sickness rather than waiting to treat when it happens.

“It’s a look at the bigger picture. The upstream factors that shape health outcomes that may be outside a person’s direct control,” says Robin Pickering, professor and chair of public health. “This program focuses on social and political determinants of health and equity – like transportation, employment, housing, income and public policy. These things aren’t quick fixes.”

Pickering worked closely with several partners at the University for more than a year to make this new graduate degree a reality, stemming from the hopes of past faculty and administrators who dreamed of a public health discipline for more than a decade.

This multi-faceted program will also address everything from infectious diseases within a community to vaccination hesitancy to matters of climate change. Students who graduate with a master's in public health will be well prepared to take on careers in government, hospitals, nonprofits, business and higher education.

The online MPH program will welcome its first students in fall 2025, exactly one year after the launch of the undergraduate degree in public health. The first cohort of students started classes in September and have said the addition of the major felt like finding the missing piece.

“For someone who is really numbers-driven, the idea that those numbers can have a broader impact and can help make life better for different corners of our country, our world, our communities, that’s science with a purpose," senior Maddie Ediger says. “It’s an affirmation that this is the path I want to be on.”

The master’s program will guarantee small classes, roughly 10 to 15 people, to ensure personalized attention is paid to all students, a competitive point when looking at more established schools with larger class sizes. All students will be required to take 42 credits, consisting of 33 public health credits and nine electives. These draw from several departments across the University including nursing and organizational leadership.

This trailblazing master's program will join the School of Health Sciences’ nationally ranked master’s in nursing as another virtual and accessible option for furthering education for those ready to make a tangible impact on the world.