Students will be given the opportunity to register for courses and confer with their academic advisers about their schedules before classes start each term. All students must complete the online registration process by the deadline listed on the academic calendar to avoid a $50 late fee. There are deadlines to add and drop courses after the registration period ends, as noted on the academic calendar.

Courses cannot be added after the deadlines noted on the academic calendar without permission of the faculty adviser, the instructor, and the registrar. See the Course Withdrawal policy for information on withdrawing from courses.

Additional Policies

Two-Year M.P.H. and Advanced Professional M.P.H. Students

Electives

Many departments require students to take electives toward their M.P.H. degree. Electives used toward degree requirements are to be used to enhance students’ public health competencies as they pursue the M.P.H. degree. Thus, electives are typically health-related. Exceptions can be made if students can justify that the elective course content will enhance their public health competencies and public health career goals.

With the exception of EPH 537E, Frontiers of Public Health, which may be taken by M.S. or Ph.D. students for whom the course fulfills a degree requirement, Executive M.P.H. courses are open only to students who are enrolled in the Executive M.P.H. Program.

Independent Study Courses

Students may be interested in pursuing independent study courses if they are offered within their department/program. Independent study courses focus on a specific research topic agreed upon by a faculty member within the department and the student. Independent study course work also must be separate from work for the thesis project. Students who plan to pursue an independent study course in a given term must complete the independent study request form by the registration deadline each term, available on the myYSPH site at https://ysph.yale.edu/myysph/students/mph/forms-and-systems.

Courses at Other Yale Schools

Students are allowed to enroll in courses in other Yale schools if there is space available and if the instructor agrees. It is the responsibility of the student to secure the appropriate permission before they can be registered for a course. Students must receive written permission from the registrar of the Jackson School of Global Affairs, the Law School, or the School of Management for any courses taken at those schools. Note: An additional course material fee may apply to courses taken outside YSPH. YSPH does not cover the cost of these additional course fees.

One course unit is awarded for any full-term course (not seminars or colloquia) taken in the Graduate School or another professional school. Some courses may be adjusted to half-credit upon review of the syllabi/course expectations by the YSPH registrar during registration period, and students will be notified accordingly.

Credit is not granted for courses that are taken on a pass/fail or credit/no credit basis. All courses taken outside of YSPH must be graded (H, HP, P) in order to receive a course unit.

Courses taken at Yale College (undergraduate) must typically be at the 300-series level or above in order to receive a course unit toward the M.P.H. degree. Some 200-series courses at Yale College may count if approved by the student’s faculty adviser. With the exception of relevant language courses, 100-series courses are not eligible for credit toward the degree.

Students are permitted to take a maximum of 2 language credits as electives toward the M.P.H. degree with appropriate permission and approval by the instructor, as well as a review of degree rationale by the student's academic adviser and YSPH registrar.

Minimum and Maximum Course Load

Full-time students are expected to maintain a minimum of 4 credits per term. Registration schedules of less than 4 credits will not be approved unless a student has converted to a part-time study plan, in discussion with the YSPH registrar and the student's academic adviser.

Due to the expected workload, schedules of more than 6.5 credits per term will not be approved. A schedule of 7 credits will require written request to the YSPH registrar with rationale for review and approval. Note: Due to the accelerated nature of the program, Advanced Professional M.P.H. students are not expected to obtain approval for schedules of 7 or 7.5 credits.

Under no circumstances will schedules of 8 credits or more be approved.

Executive M.P.H. Students

Electives

Students in the Executive M.P.H. Program who choose to complete a single track may meet the remaining credit requirements for the degree by taking electives selected from courses offered in the other tracks. They may also take on-site elective courses if they have faculty permission and meet any prerequisites and attendance requirements.

Conditional Credit from MasterTrack Certificates

Students accepted into the Executive M.P.H. Program who completed one or more Coursera MasterTrack certificates sponsored by YSPH prior to their acceptance may apply up to 2 conditional credits (equivalent to four MasterTrack courses) to the completion of their M.P.H. degree. Conditional credit from MasterTrack courses is not applicable to students who are already enrolled in a YSPH degree-granting program.

Maximum Course Load

The Executive M.P.H. Program is intended to be completed over two years of part-time study. Therefore, students must maintain a part-time course load. Consequently, a maximum of 3.5 credits may be completed in a given term to maintain part-time status.

Nonmatriculated Students

Nonmatriculated part-time study in the M.P.H. program is available with the course instructor’s permission. Nonmatriculated part-time students are individuals who attend classes and participate fully in a course; complete assignments, papers, or examinations; and receive a transcript attesting to completion of the course, credit hours, and a grade. A nonmatriculated student is limited to no more than three course credits per term and a maximum of four course credits total if taking courses for credit. All course requirements will be completed by the end of the term. Exceptions must be negotiated with the course instructor. Note: Courses in the Executive M.P.H. Program are not open to nonmatriculated part-time study.

Part-time nonmatriculated students pay tuition on a per-course basis. In the event a nonmatriculated student is accepted to and enrolls in a degree program at the Yale School of Public Health, the student is permitted to apply the maximum four courses toward the degree. However, there will be no modification in tuition. Taking YSPH courses as a nonmatriculated student does not guarantee acceptance into any program at the Yale School of Public Health.

Yale affiliates participating in Yale fellowship programs may request an exception to the four-course-credit-maximum policy for nonmatriculated students on a case-by-case basis if they have a prior M.P.H. Those who are granted an exception to the policy and then subsequently decide to apply and are admitted to a degree program at YSPH may still only apply four courses from their nondegree study toward the M.P.H. degree.