Master of Public Health program receives accreditation from Council on Education for Public Health

Monday, July 09, 2012

Claremont Graduate University (CGU's) School of Community and Global Health announced today that its Master of Public Health (MPH) program has received full accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health. The council approved accreditation for five years, the longest allowable for a newly accredited program.

"This accreditation confirms the high quality of our Master of Public Health program and solidifies our place among the best programs in the country," said Andy Johnson, dean of the School of Community and Global Health. "It also ensures that our students will continue to have access to the fullest range of job opportunities when they graduate with their MPH degrees."

Claremont Graduate University formed the School of Community and Global Health in the summer of 2008 to foster the study of twenty-first century health threats such as accelerated shifts in global populations and spikes in preventable health-related problems. The MPH program, which enrolled its first students in the fall of 2009, focuses on the decreases in health and well-being that result from economic and social circumstance and lifestyle choices, including obesity, diabetes, and diseases related to tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse, both locally and globally.

Accreditation is a voluntary process in which universities commit to both internal and external reviews to evaluate organizational effectiveness and ensure adherence to high quality educational standards.

The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency recognized by the US Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and public health programs. It has accredited about 85 MPH programs in the United States, Canada, Lebanon, and Grenada.

To earn CEPH accreditation, Claremont Graduate University’s MPH program underwent an intensive two-year review.  CEPH examined details of the program’s operations ranging from the rigor of its academics to the quality of its research to the diversity of the faculty, staff, and students.

In its final report, CEPH praised the program's faculty as "exceptionally well qualified" and called faculty research "excellent."

"The fact that such a young program received this level of praise and the full five year accreditation shows we're off to a terrific start," Johnson said.

CGU President Deborah Freund, a renowned health care economist, added: “This is wonderful recognition of the strength of our program, faculty, and students. It also is testimony to the faculty’s far reaching new vision of what public health practice can and should be in the 21st century.”

Darleen Peterson, director of the MPH program, led the accreditation efforts.