About this Concentration

ODU's Master of Public Health program combines knowledge and skills that you can use in healthcare management, population-based research, and the community practice of public health.

Our MPH concentration in Health Behavior and Health Promotion focuses on disease and injury prevention. Your coursework will teach you how to promote healthy behavior through education, communication, research, and publication.

Your online classes are the same ones offered to students at our main campus in Norfolk, Va. Your classmates may be a mix of students from Virginia and across the U.S.

Interested in global health? You can earn a graduate certificate in Global Health concurrently with your MPH degree.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) program is accredited through December 31, 2025 by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). The program received its initial CEPH accreditation in June 2000 and was last re-accredited in June 2020 in a report demonstrating full compliance across all CEPH criteria. Currently the program is an approved applicant as a multi-partner school of public health. For more information, see CEPH Applicants. For more information about CEPH, please visit their website.  

For questions about CEPH accreditation and to obtain copies of the final CEPH self-study and accreditation report, please contact Ms. Stephanie Ewers, Director of Accreditation at sewers@odu.edu.

 

Additional accreditation information

The Joint School of Public Health is undergoing a review by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) for accreditation. Part of this process includes the provision of a third-party comment period, which allows anyone, including students, alumni, faculty, staff, community and practice partners, and members of the public, to share relevant information about the Joint School of Public Health directly with CEPH. If you have any information about the Joint School of Public Health you would like to share with CEPH to inform their review, send your comments to submissions@ceph.org by October 9, 2025.

Careers in Public Health Behavior and Health Promotion

Health behavior scientists and health promotion professionals:

  • are active in community health improvement and behavioral health research;
  • are successful health educators, community health planners and program evaluators;
  • work in the public and private sectors;
  • serve as health promotion leaders, directors and managers and behavioral health scientists in academic, government, private industry and private practice settings;
  • work to prevent disease and injury and promote healthy behaviors through education, communication, research, and publication.
Community Health Workers
Growth
13.1%
Median Salary
$48,200
Health Education Specialists
Growth
7.0%
Median Salary
$62,860
Occupational Health and Safety Technicians
Growth
11.4%
Median Salary
$57,920
Social and Community Service Managers
Growth
8.2%
Median Salary
$77,030

Bright Outlook

Employment of health education specialists and community health workers is projected to grow 12 percent from 2021 to 2031, faster than the average for all occupations.
— Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, March 2023

Helpful Resources

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