Application deadline for the PhD and DrPH  programs is December 15 for Fall semester admittance.  Please refer to Application Procedures for information on the application process. 

Applicants to the doctoral program in Public Health must meet the following minimum criteria in order to be considered for admission. However, the meeting of these criteria per se, shall not be the only basis for admission.

1. Minimum Verbal GRE score of 480 and minimum Quantitative GRE score of 620, taken within 5 years preceding the application and a grade point average of 3.0 are needed to be considered.
2. A score of 600 or higher on the GMAT for applicants to only the Health Policy and Management Department will be considered.  (PhD only)
3. MCAT scores are accepted for the doctoral programs only in the Departments of Community and Family Health, Environmental Health, and Global Health. The minimum score required is a mean of 8.

PhD Applicants seeking consideration to the doctoral program must possess the MPH, MSPH, or equiva­lent. Those who hold other graduate degrees will be considered, but as a pre-requisite, they must complete the Epidemiology and Biostatistics core courses, one additional core course, and other courses as required and approved by their advisory committee.   

DrPH Applicants seeking consideration to the doctoral program must possess the MPH, MHA or equivalent degree and a minimum of two years work experience in public health, a closely related field or as a health professional.  Those who hold other graduate degrees will be considered, but as a pre-requisite they must complete all five public health core courses. 

In order to be considered for admission to the PhD or DrPH Program in Public Health, applicants must be fully prepared to register as full-time students for at least one full academic year (consecutive Fall and Spring semesters).

All requirements for doctoral degrees must be completed within eight (8) calendar years from the student’s date of admission for doctoral study.  Students have four (4) years from the date of admission to complete all required coursework, pass the qualifying examination, and be admitted to doctoral candidacy.  Students then have four (4) years from the date of doctoral candidacy to complete degree requirements. 

Upon acceptance to the doctoral program in Public Health, each student shall sign a “letter of understanding” regarding the stages in the doctoral degree process. Each department has written guidelines for their doctoral pro­grams as well as the following requirements:

PhD students:

1. Successful completion of required coursework
2. Evidence of teaching proficiency
3. Completion of PhD Competencies Worksheet
4. Successful performance on the qualifying examination for doctoral candidacy
5. Preparation and formal approval of dissertation proposal
6. Conduct of dissertation research activities and preparation of dissertation document

DrPH Students:

1. Successful completion of required coursework including 12 credit hours of policy, leadership and management courses. 
2. Evidence of teaching proficiency  
3. Successful performance on the qualifying examination for doctoral candidacy
4. Preparation and formal approval of dissertation proposal which must be practice based
5. Conduct of dissertation research activities and preparation of dissertation document
6. Nine credit hours of field experience the data from which can be used in preparation of dissertation document

For Doctoral  Application Procedures go to http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/degreereqs.html.