Online Master of Science in Community Health & Prevention Science
Take an active role in preventing and promoting social, physical, and mental health of your local community with the University of Cincinnati’s online MS Community Health and Prevention Science program.
Master of Science in Community Health and Prevention Science Program Overview
Prevention science is an emerging, interdisciplinary field of public health that focuses on preventing negative health outcomes by introducing behavior changes.
In this program, students will develop skills to plan, implement, and evaluate community health behavior change programs using a prevention science framework.
Students will be eligible to pursue three highly recognized credentials following graduation:
- Prevention Specialist from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium.
- State-level Prevention Specialist credentialing from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium state level boards in the United States.
- Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam through the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing.
Master of Science in Community Health and Prevention Science Program Highlights
High Quality Education
This degree is designed to provide students with the fundamentals of Prevention Science and Community Health. Students will focus on measuring risk and protective factors that modify health behavior and will learn to take those factors to potentially develop and implement prevention programs and interventions. Graduates of this degree program will possess skills needed to positively impact communities through evidence-based prevention practices. Bringing research and practical applications together, graduates will be highly prepared to initiate health behavior change at the family, school, and community settings.
- Instruction from award-winning faculty including cutting-edge prevention science experts, scholars, and highly experienced prevention science professionals.
- Develop strategic leadership and professional decision-making skills, including critically analyzing data and applying those concepts to effective programs and health behavior change.
- A culminating portfolio project, reviewed and approved by your instructors to prepare you for credentialing exams.
- Elective course offerings such as drugs and society, suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention, vulnerable population health, community organization and grant writing.
Flexibility
- 100% online instruction
- Financial aid available
- Easy to transfer credits
- Enroll in the spring, summer, or fall semesters
- Part-time flexibility
Support from Application through Graduation
At UC, you’ll have a full support team behind you:
Enrollment Services Advisor: Your go-to resource during the application process
Student Success Coordinator: Helping you prepare for classes and stay on track
Access to Resources: Access to university resources that will support you through your program including online learning expectations and resources, health and wellness resources, and academic support
The 30-credit hour curriculum for the MS Community Health & Prevention Science program is comprehensive and research-based.
Students will receive training in all the areas necessary to be successful as Community Health and Prevention Science specialists in the field. The program ends with a portfolio project that will help demonstrate students’ capability in the field.
Following graduation, students will be prepared to sit for state, national and international certifications in the prevention science field.
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| HPE 7007 | Prevention Science The purpose of this course is to introduce students to theory, research, and practice in prevention science as related to community health and human services. Students will also be introduced to the various research-based strategies in prevention. This course will offer information related to the fundamentals of prevention including preventing risky behaviors and promoting healthy behaviors. In addition, risk factors and protective factors across the lifespan will be discussed. |
3 |
| HPE 7011 | Foundations of Health Promotion and Education This is a foundational course in health promotion and education that explains what health educators do within the field of public/community health. Philosophical underpinnings of the profession, historical genesis, ethical principles, behavioraland social science theories and models, qualitative and quantitative methods, and educational methods are discussed. |
3 |
| HPE 7012 | Health Promotion and Education Program Planning This course provides students with the basic skills to assess needs, plan, implement and evaluate community health promotion programs in a variety of settings. Students will be exposed to avariety of health promotion and education program strategies such as political advocacy, media utilization, and community organizing. |
3 |
| HPE 7071 | Research Methods in Health Promotion and Education This course will introduce students to the basic concepts of health education research. Students should be able to apply these concepts to develop high quality health education research projects and to evaluate research done by others. The course will also provide the skills necessary to conduct a thesis or project within the Health Promotion and Education Program. The information from this course is vital to the successful completion of a thesis, project, comprehensive exam or portfolio. |
3 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| HPE 7009 | Implementation Science in Community Health and Prevention The purpose of this course is to introduce the concepts, theories, and methods of implementing evidence-based health, behavioral health, and social science-related interventions. The course also discusses methods for conducting rigorous research on implementation. |
3 |
| HPE 7013 | Health Promotion and Education Measurement and Evaluation Different measurement and evaluation techniques used in health promotion and education will be discussed in this course. Emphasis will be given to developing new valid and reliable instruments for process and impact evaluation of health promotion and education interventions. Choosing evaluation designs, applying appropriate statistical procedures, using evaluation technology, interpreting results and making recommendations for policy, practice and research will be covered. |
3 |
| HPE 7014 | Grant Writing and Resource Development The purpose of this course is to investigate sources of grant funding at the federal, state, and local level. Another primary purpose is examine grant announcements, RFPs (Request for Proposals), and example grant proposals. Students will also practice developing a grant proposal. |
3 |
| HPE 7072 | Health Science Statistics This is an introductory statistics course intendedto provide students with the ability to: 1) selectthe appropriate statistical tests based on a givenhypothesis, 2) run descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS, 3) interpret the results of descriptive and inferential statistics, and 4) read and interpret the statistical analysis presented in research articles. |
3 |
| Course | Title/Description | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| HPE 6026 | Stress Reduction This is a stress reduction course that focuses on techniques for stress reduction and their application. Students are exposed to techniques for relaxation, effective communication, managing anger, reducing anxiety, physical activity/exercise, healthy nutrition, and efficient time management. Graduate students plan,implement, and evaluate a stress reduction program in family, school, community, worksite, or patient care setting. |
3 |
| HPE 7000 | Human Sexuality and Health This course provides students with current information on human sexuality from a health promotion/health education perspective. Students are provided with factual information that helps them to examine their personal feelings and attitudes regarding sexuality. The course explores a wide array of physical, psychological and social aspects of sexuality. Major emphasis areas of the course include sexual communication, sexual anatomy and physiology, societal influences, gender dimensions, sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, effectiveness rates of contraceptives, sexual dysfunctions and treatments, sexual consumerism, sexuality education, and effective strategies in teaching youth about sexual issues. The roles of health promotion and health education in sexuality education are also addressed. |
3 |
| HPE 7001 | Drugs and Society This course examines how drug use affects human behavior and impacts society. Modalities for treating, preventing and regulating psychoactive drug-related problems are discussed. Specific health education and health promotion approaches to dealing with the problem of drugs are emphasized. The students learn how to develop and evaluate health education and health promotion interventions for dealing with drugs. |
3 |
| HPE 7002 | Culture, Equity, and Vulnerable Population Health This course aims to sensitize students to forces shaping health and disease in multicultural societies and to raise students' level of awareness of health issues specific to minority populations. The course also provides practical experience in assessing health indicators for vulnerable populations and applying public health education principles to selected population needs. |
3 |
| PH 8062 | Understanding Vulnerable Populations This course aims to examine concepts and methods in the study of vulnerability in health, and, in particular, strategies and future directions for resolving disparities in health care access, quality, and health status at the community and national levels. Vulnerability risks will be defined, and implications for public health and social and human services delivery will be discussed. A comprehensive approach incorporating individual and community factors and current government and private initiatives will be reviewed. Also included will be interpretation of the existing knowledge and programs for application at the community level. |
3 |
Applications to the MS Community Health and Prevention Science online program are reviewed on an ongoing basis by an admissions committee comprised of program faculty.
Competitive applicants should have at least a 3.0 undergraduate grade point average (or equivalent). Applicants with relevant work experience or nationally-accredited health certifications are also encouraged to apply, and should list this information in their Resume.
Fast Track Admission
Automatic admission into the MS CHPS-DL program for undergraduate students who graduate from UC (Begins Fall 2024)
- Cumulative GPA of 3.50 or above (for courses completed at UC)
- Earned 4-year undergraduate degree from UC
- Graduated from UC within the past 5 years (15 academic semesters)
- Any major applies
- The Fast Track application process removes the Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement, CV/Resume, and Letter of Recommendation requirements from the application for qualified applicants
- Submission of transcripts as part of the application process is still required and need to be sent by the end of their first semester
Complete the online application and submit the application fee.
Standard Application Fees:
- $65.00 for domestic applicants to most degree programs
- $70.00 for international applicants to most degree programs
- $20.00 for domestic applicants to Graduate Certificates
- $25.00 for international applicants to Graduate Certificates
- Application fees are waived for Summer 2026 applications submitted by March 1st, 2026
- Application fees are waived for Fall 2026 applications submitted by July 1st, 2026
- Fee waivers are automatically applied for applicants who:
- are currently serving in the US armed forces
- are veterans of the US armed forces
All applicants are required to upload unofficial transcripts during the application process, showing all undergraduate and graduate course work completed, including degrees granted and dates of conferral.
Official transcripts are not required until the student has received and accepted an offer of admission from the university. Once the offer has been confirmed, the student must submit official transcripts.
Students who have received degrees from the University of Cincinnati do not need to submit official paper copies of their UC transcripts.
Transcripts can be submitted electronically or by mail. To see if your transcript(s) can be ordered electronically, visit the links below and search for your previous school(s).
- Parchment
- Please select “University of Cincinnati – Main Campus” as the recipient of your transcript.
- National Student Clearinghouse
- Please have your transcript sent directly to admissions@uc.edu.
If you do not see your past school(s) listed on either site, please contact the school(s) directly. Then, mail your sealed, unopened, official transcripts to:
Please mail sealed, unopened, official transcripts to:
University of Cincinnati
Office of Admissions
PO Box 210091
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0091
One letter of recommendation from a professional or academic contact.
- Please note that the name and email address of each recommender is required.
Please provide a current resume or curriculum vitae.
Please prepare a statement-of-purpose essay explaining in less than 500 words how the MS Community Health & Prevention Science program will further your career goals.
An official TOEFL/IELTS is required for all international applicants.
International applicants must also submit foreign transcripts for evaluation to an agency recognized by the National Association of Credential Evaluating Services (NACES; www.naces.org).
| Term | Application Deadline | Classes Start |
|---|---|---|
Summer 2026 Fall 2026 |
April 28, 2026 August 15, 2026 |
May 11, 2026 August 24, 2026 |
The University of Cincinnati's online course fees differ depending on the program. On average, students will accrue fewer fees than students attending on-campus classes.
The one fee applied across all UC Online programs is the distance learning fee. Students living outside the state of Ohio must also pay an additional “non-resident” fee to enroll in courses at UC Online. This fee is lower than the out-of-state fee for traditional on-campus programs.
To view tuition information and program costs, visit the Online Program Fees page.
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