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Best Colleges for Public Health

50 Public Health programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Public Health, Duke University (North Carolina) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $101,771. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$101,771	$12,500	41	91.8
2	Montana Technological University Butte, MT	Master's Degree	$108,351	$21,023	43	89.2
3	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$89,522	$15,000	128	87.5
4	University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$140,663	—	74	86.8
5	University of West Florida Pensacola, FL	Master's Degree	$111,363	—	47	84.3
6	Los Angeles Pacific University San Dimas, CA	Master's Degree	$92,519	$20,500	36	84.2
7	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	First Professional Degree	$116,416	—	—	83.6
8	Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Erie, PA	Master's Degree	$142,151	$36,007	52	83
9	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$119,898	—	22	82.7
10	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Master's Degree	$153,029	$49,681	400	82.5
11	Arcadia University Glenside, PA	Master's Degree	$116,631	—	21	82.4
12	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Doctoral Degree	$169,322	—	13	82.2
13	George Washington University Washington, DC	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$126,738	—	17	82.1
14	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY	Master's Degree	$94,566	$29,631	231	82.1
15	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	Master's Degree	$103,005	$37,882	102	81.4
16	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Doctoral Degree	$143,521	—	9	81.1
17	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ	Master's Degree	$100,713	$32,995	68	81.1
18	George Washington University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$87,217	$23,250	116	81
19	New York University New York, NY	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$117,656	—	11	80.9
20	Weber State University Ogden, UT	Master's Degree	$104,668	$35,500	45	80.4
21	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	Doctoral Degree	$113,870	$34,545	25	80.2
22	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$79,113	$12,750	143	80.1
23	University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL	Master's Degree	$91,073	$32,000	288	80
24	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Doctoral Degree	$105,705	—	15	79.9
25	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Doctoral Degree	$105,864	—	14	79.8
26	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$110,900	$52,445	178	79.6
27	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Master's Degree	$95,681	—	33	79.4
28	Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$90,156	—	104	79.3
29	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Master's Degree	$166,705	$53,550	64	79.2
30	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Post-baccalaureate Certificate	$93,536	—	—	78.6
31	The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$99,671	—	17	78.4
32	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	Master's Degree	$100,713	$32,995	26	78.3
33	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$76,572	$11,708	210	77.9
34	Saint Joseph's College of Maine Standish, ME	Master's Degree	$97,024	—	18	77.9
35	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Master's Degree	$96,194	$41,326	116	77.6
36	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$81,684	$18,864	47	77.6
37	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$78,928	$16,787	101	77.5
38	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$101,308	$48,770	94	77.3
39	Touro University California Vallejo, CA	Master's Degree	$143,582	$187,232	77	77.3
40	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Master's Degree	$86,225	—	255	77.1
41	Des Moines University-Osteopathic Medical Center West Des Moines, IA	Master's Degree	$98,886	$30,736	19	77.1
42	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY	Master's Degree	$101,385	$36,945	23	76.9
43	Walden University Minneapolis, MN	Doctoral Degree	$108,951	$129,841	145	76.7
44	Samford University Birmingham, AL	Master's Degree	$92,506	—	23	76.5
45	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	First Professional Degree	$109,806	$45,725	—	76.5
46	Illinois State University Normal, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$84,790	$20,009	19	76.5
47	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Master's Degree	$99,605	$65,952	752	76.5
48	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$95,664	$51,954	392	76.5
49	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Master's Degree	$92,640	$38,500	58	76.3
50	Utah State University Logan, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$93,161	—	15	76.2

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Hidden Gems for Public Health

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Public Health — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Montana Technological University Butte, MT Strong Public Health outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$108,351	91%	89.2
2	University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL Strong Public Health outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$140,663	88%	86.8
3	Los Angeles Pacific University San Dimas, CA Strong Public Health outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$92,519	—	84.2
4	Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Erie, PA Strong Public Health outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$142,151	—	83
5	Arcadia University Glenside, PA Strong Public Health outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$116,631	80%	82.4
6	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY Strong Public Health outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$94,566	68%	82.1
7	Weber State University Ogden, UT Strong Public Health outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$104,668	—	80.4
8	Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA Strong Public Health outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$90,156	81%	79.3
9	The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX Strong Public Health outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$99,671	—	78.4
10	Saint Joseph's College of Maine Standish, ME Strong Public Health outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$97,024	84%	77.9
11	Touro University California Vallejo, CA Strong Public Health outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$143,582	—	77.3
12	Des Moines University-Osteopathic Medical Center West Des Moines, IA Strong Public Health outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$98,886	—	77.1

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Public Health field (CIP 51.22) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Public Health programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Public Health program?+

By our outcome score, Duke University (North Carolina) ranks #1 for Public Health, with median graduate earnings of $101,771.

How are these Public Health programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Public Health programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

🔍 Public Health rankings (filterable)🎓 All major rankings 🏫 Browse colleges 🆓 Tuition-free colleges ⭐ All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.