The Select Program in Public Health gives Yale College students interested in the field of public health the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree from Yale College and an M.P.H. degree from the Yale School of Public Health in a five-year joint program.

A total of 18 course units is required for the M.P.H. degree. Students in the B.A.-B.S./M.P.H. program affiliate with one of seven departments or programs at the School of Public Health. Their primary adviser comes from this department/program, and their specific requirements within the five-year program are defined by this affiliation. Several course requirements can be taken while a senior at Yale College, with the remaining requirements satisfied during the one-year enrollment at the School of Public Health.

In their four years of Yale College enrollment, students complete a standard Yale College major, which consists of at least 36 course credits, 32 of which must be Yale College undergraduate approved courses credits. Two of those Yale College courses may be counted as electives toward the M.P.H. degree requirements. These electives must be on the School of Public Health’s list of approved courses.

The remaining 4 course credits of the 36 required for a Yale College degree are typically taken at YSPH in order to fulfill the M.P.H. degree requirements. Students may take additional YSPH courses while at Yale College, as long as they complete the required 32 undergraduate courses.

Students accepted into the B.A.-B.S./M.P.H. program typically take four or more of the following YSPH courses during their senior year:

EPH 100	Professional Skills Series
EPH 101	Professional Skills Series
EPH 505	Biostatistics in Public Health
EPH 507	Social Justice and Health Equity
EPH 508	Foundations of Epidemiology and Public Health
EPH 510	Health Policy and Health Care Systems
EPH 513	Major Health Threats: Ethics and Practice

Students who follow this pattern will take 6 course units per term during their fifth year. However, most students are able to reduce the course load in the fifth year by receiving credit for additional course units while they are at Yale College. There are several ways they may be able to do this:

• Take additional YSPH courses. Students may have received advance placement credit or have satisfied most of the requirements for their Yale College major, and consequently may have more flexibility in their schedule. As mentioned, Yale College students may take additional YSPH courses while at Yale College, as long as they complete the required 32 undergraduate courses. They simply will not get credit on their Yale College transcript if they have already taken four graduate-level courses. They should work with their college dean on any logistics surrounding this.
• Take cross-listed courses. YSPH cross-lists several courses with Yale College. A student taking a cross-listed course should register for the Yale College course number. That way it will not count as one of the student’s graduate and professional school courses, but YSPH can count it as a YSPH course and give the student an additional Yale College elective.
• Take Yale College courses as Global Health Concentration (GHC), U.S. Health Justice Concentration (USHJC), or Climate Change and Health Concentration (CCHC) electives. Like any M.P.H. student, Yale College students are eligible to take courses from the approved lists of these electives. (See these concentrations’ curriculum guidelines in the chapter Traditional Two-Year M.P.H. Program.) Many of these courses are taught on the central campus.

Before beginning their fifth year at YSPH, students typically complete the applied practice experience (APE) during the summer between the fourth and fifth years of the B.A.-B.S./M.P.H. program. Information about the APE is available at https://ysph.yale.edu/myysph/students/practice.

Students are in full-time residence at the School of Public Health during their fifth year in the program, during which time they complete the remaining required courses and the master’s thesis. In order to complete the program and fulfill YSPH’s residency requirements, students must take at least 10 course units during their fifth year in the program. Information on each department’s degree requirements is available at https://ysph.yale.edu/myysph/curriculum/mph.

Yale College students may apply to YSPH for the joint program in the fall term of their junior year. Candidates for admission must present evidence of a commitment to public health, as well as quantitative skills. In addition, a year of college-level mathematics and a year of science and social science are strongly preferred, although some of these expectations can be completed after applying to the program. Additional expectations may apply to particular departments or programs. Applicants must complete YSPH application forms and submit transcripts, SAT scores, two letters of recommendation (at least one from an instructor in a Yale course), and a personal statement. Approval by the dean of the student’s residential college is also required.

Financial aid, if provided during the fifth year, will come from YSPH. The school cannot guarantee that the financial aid award in the fifth year will be equivalent to previous awards.

Further information about this program may be obtained from the Office of Student Affairs, 47 College St., Suite 108, New Haven CT 06510; 203.785.6260; or https://ysph.yale.edu/myysph/curriculum/joint/ba-bs.