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Best Public Health Schools

2023 Best Public Health Schools

589 Colleges
$43,158 Avg Salary
$27,396 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Public Health School for You

In 2020-2021, 40,596 people earned a degree or certificate in public health, making the major the #25 most popular in the United States.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Public Health Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 589 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Public Health Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Public Health Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools in Public Health

Our analysis found Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine to be the best school for public health students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the city of Erie, LECOM is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Public Health Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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Out of the 589 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Touro University California landed the # 3 spot on the list. TUC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Vallejo.

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#4

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvard University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Public Health Schools list. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.

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#5

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Vanderbilt University is a great place for public health students. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.

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With a ranking of #6, A T Still University of Health Sciences did quite well on this year’s best schools for public health students. Located in the remote town of Kirksville, A T Still University of Health Sciences is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#7

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for public health students. It came in at #7 on the list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

After completing their degree, public health graduates from Northwestern carry an average student debtload of $14,000.

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#8

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best public health programs. Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average amount in student loans that public health majors at Brown take out is $15,000.

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With a ranking of #9, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s best schools for public health students. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

The average amount in student loans that public health majors at UC Berkeley take out is $11,875. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $304, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#10

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

With a ranking of #10, Santa Clara University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public health students. Located in the city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Public Health majors at SCU take out an average of $20,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

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Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Public Health Schools ranking. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

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#12

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Public Health Schools ranking. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Hanover.

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#13

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago ranked #13 on this year’s Best Public Health Schools list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#14

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

With a ranking of #14, Wake Forest University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public health students. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem.

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Illinois State University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Public Health Schools list. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average amount in student loans that public health majors at Illinois State take out is $24,750.

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Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best public health programs. Located in the small city of Albany, Albany College of Pharmacy is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#17

Yale University

New Haven, CT

Yale University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for public health students. It came in at #17 on the list. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of New Haven.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best public health programs. UTHealth is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Houston.

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#19

New York Medical College

Valhalla, NY

New York Medical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for public health students. It came in at #19 on the list. Located in the suburb of Valhalla, New York Medical College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average amount in student loans that public health majors at New York Medical College take out is $19,596.

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With a ranking of #20, University of Nebraska Medical Center did quite well on this year’s best schools for public health students. UNMC is a small public school located in the large city of Omaha.

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With a ranking of #21, Montana Technological University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public health students. Located in the town of Butte, Montana Tech is a public college with a small student population.

After completing their degree, public health graduates from Montana Tech carry an average student debtload of $26,000.

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Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for public health students. It came in at #22 on the list. Located in the city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Public Health majors at Texas A&M College Station take out an average of $19,500 in student loans while working on their egree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $347.

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University of California - Los Angeles did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for public health students. It came in at #23 on the list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

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Des Moines University - Osteopathic Medical Center did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for public health students. It came in at #24 on the list. Located in the city of Des Moines, Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#25

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

With a ranking of #25, Johns Hopkins University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public health students. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

After completing their degree, public health graduates from Johns Hopkins carry an average student debtload of $16,088. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $585.

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Rest of the Top 50 Best Public Health Schools

#27

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA
#28

Texas Wesleyan University

Fort Worth, TX
#30

Tufts University

Medford, MA
#31

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY
#35

University of the Sciences

Philadelphia, PA
#36

Emory University

Atlanta, GA
#40

Elon University

Elon, NC
#41

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
#43

Duke University

Durham, NC

Additional Award Winners

This section represents the rest of the schools awarded a Best Public Health Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 589 different United States public health schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA
52 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
53 Oregon Health & Science University Portland, OR
54 Harrisburg Area Community College Harrisburg, PA
55 Campbell University Buies Creek, NC
56 University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI
57 Radford University Radford, VA
58 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
59 University of Minnesota - Duluth Duluth, MN
60 New York Institute of Technology Old Westbury, NY
61 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
62 Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC
63 San Jose State University San Jose, CA
64 SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Brooklyn, NY
65 California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA
66 University of Maryland - Baltimore Baltimore, MD
67 Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN
68 Georgetown University Washington, DC
69 Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO
70 Ohio Northern University Ada, OH
71 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
72 University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK
73 Bronx Community College Bronx, NY
74 Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA
75 Fairfield University Fairfield, CT
76 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA
77 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
78 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
79 Saint Ambrose University Davenport, IA
80 George Washington University Washington, DC
81 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
82 New York University New York, NY
83 Creighton University Omaha, NE
84 West Coast University - Orange County Anaheim, CA
85 California State University - San Marcos San Marcos, CA
86 University of Rochester Rochester, NY
87 Trinity Washington University Washington, DC
88 Salus University Elkins Park, PA

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Public Health Schools award.

Rank College Location
89 The Graduate Center, CUNY New York, NY
90 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
91 New England Institute of Technology East Greenwich, RI
92 Utah State University Logan, UT
93 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND
94 Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ
95 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
96 Truman State University Kirksville, MO
97 American Public University System Charles Town, WV
98 University of North Texas Health Science Center Fort Worth, TX
99 University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
100 Augusta University Augusta, GA
101 Alvernia University Reading, PA
102 Boston University Boston, MA
103 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
104 Winona State University Winona, MN
105 The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center Memphis, TN
106 Missouri Southern State University Joplin, MO
107 Lake Washington Institute of Technology Kirkland, WA
108 Chamberlain University - Illinois Addison, IL
109 St Petersburg College Clearwater, FL
110 Arcadia University Glenside, PA
111 College of Saint Elizabeth Morristown, NJ
112 University of Delaware Newark, DE
113 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock, AR
114 Sacramento City College Sacramento, CA
115 Carroll University Waukesha, WI
116 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
117 American University Washington, DC

Public Health by Region

View the Best Public Health Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Public Health is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Article 25 Flickr.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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