Kent State to offer master’s of public health degree

Kent State University will begin offering a master’s degree in public health this fall.

The degree will be available in five specializations: epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and health policy and management, according to a statement from the university.

The master’s degree marks the third program available at Kent State’s new College of Public Health. Last year, the university opened enrollment for bachelor’s and certificate programs in public health.

This spring, 146 students are taking four public health courses, and the university is accepting applications for its programs for the fall. The College of Public Health has 17 full-time tenure track faculty members with the goal of bring that number to 25 by 2012, according to the statement.

The new program is meant to help cope with the expected vacancies in the public health sector: from frontline workers in labs testing for diseases such as H1N1 to public health policymakers to food inspectors. The Association of Schools of Public Health in 2008 predicted the United States will need an additional 250,000 health educators, epidemiologists and others in the public health arena by 2020.

Ohio State University is the only other university in the state to have a public health college.