Application Opens: October 1, 2024

Priority Application Deadline: all applicants December 1, 2024

F-1 or J-1 Final Deadline: March 1, 2025

Domestic Final Deadline: May 1, 2025

All complete applications received by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on December 1st, will be reviewed and considered for admission in Fall 2025. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications submitted after December 1st will be considered only if they are complete and admission will be offered only if space is available. No applications will be accepted after May 1st.

The GRE is NOT required. Letters of Recommendation are NOT required. However, contact information for two references is required. Please note this is not a STEM program.

Prerequisite Courses

Foundational knowledge competencies are prerequisite knowledge that students are expected to have when entering the MPH program. Students may demonstrate mastery of the competencies in either of the following two ways:

• Undergraduate degree in public health, community health from a CEPH accredited program.
• Successful completion of the MPH 100 course with a score of 80% or higher on all course assessments. 

Students are informed once they have submitted their Intent To Enroll (ITE) as a final step in the admission process whether they must complete MPH 100 in order to matriculate as a student in the MPH program. MPH 100 is a self-paced asynchronous course with a cost of $200. Students must complete the course and final exam before the first day of their first semester in the MPH program. 

Step 1: Complete the University Graduate Application online.

• Submit your Cal State Apply application online.
• After setting up your Cal State Apply account and completing your Extended Profile, select the MPH program on the Add Program page:
  • Filter for: Sacramento
  • Scroll to: SACRAMENTO EXTENSION
  • Click the plus sign (“+”) next to: Public Health – Master’s of Public Health
  • Verify the start term and year: Fall 2025
• While completing the application, you must list all colleges/universities you have attended, even if you did not earn a degree from that institution, or if you only enrolled in one class and dropped it.
  • You do not need to list each individual course you completed through each institution.
• The $70 non-refundable University Application fee will be paid online at the end of the application before submission.
• If you have technical issues with the application, please call (857) 304-2087 for assistance.
• We strongly urge you to submit your application several weeks in advance of the deadline in order to give you enough time to complete the remaining steps in the application process.
• View the Graduate Application Guide 2024-2025 for detailed instructions.

Step 2: Submit Supplemental Program Application Documents

In order to be considered for admission, you must also submit all supplemental program application documents. Submit these items in Quadrant IV of the Cal State Apply application.

MPH Supplemental program application documents include:

• Completed MPH Supplemental Application:
  This is an editable PDF which you can fill out, save, and upload online. (Please double check that your information is saved in the editable fields before uploading.) If you prefer, you may print the form, fill it out out by hand, sign, and scan the form before uploading.
• A current professional resume or CV:  Directions: 1-2 pages maximum, addressing your relevant paid and unpaid experience.
• Personal Essay:  Please provide a personal essay that addresses each of the four prompts below.

Essay Prompts:

1. My Path to Public Health: How did you become interested in the field of public health?
2. My Commitment to Public Health: Why are you choosing to pursue an MPH at Sac State? 
3. My Readiness for Graduate Education: In what specific ways have you prepared your life to meet the demands of graduate level education at this time?
4. What Diversity & Inclusion Mean to Me: How might your life experiences contribute to increased cultural diversity at Sac State and the profession of public health? In what ways are you committed to serving diverse communities as a public health professional?

Formatting Requirements:  Your essay must (i) include your name at the top, (ii) be organized by number and title according to the list of prompts above, (iii) be double-spaced with 12-point font and 1-inch margins, and (iv) saved as a PDF. Your essay must address all 4 prompts listed above. Essays are scored for completeness, depth of content, and writing mechanics. Please limit your responses to no more than 1 page for each prompt (maximum 4 pages in total). 

• Upload one set of unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities attended including ALL community colleges attended and colleges where credit was earned as a high school student; 

  • If you have transcripts from institutions outside of the United States, please submit your transcripts one month prior to the deadline to allow time for a foreign credential evaluation. Please review the Office of Graduate Studies website for information about applicants with foreign documents.
  • Once admitted to the program, you will then be required to submit one official transcript from all colleges and/or universities attended, in university sealed envelopes or through the university’s e-transcript service (preferred method), directly to the Office of Graduate Studies by the transcript deadline.

Step 3:  Submit official transcripts.

• An official copy of transcripts from all colleges and universities attended, other than Sacramento State; send electronic transcripts to gradtranscripts@csus.edu or hard copy transcripts to:

• Photocopies or opened transcripts will not be accepted.
• If you have transcripts from institutions outside of the United States, please submit your transcripts one month prior to the deadline to allow time for a foreign credential evaluation. Please review the Office of Graduate Studies website for information about applicants with foreign documents.
• We also strongly urge you to put in your requests to have your official transcripts sent to us from US institutions several weeks in advance of the deadline as well, in order to ensure that we receive them in time.

For detailed instructions about applying to Cal State Apply, see the Office of Graduate Studies Application Information and Procedures webpage.

After you have submitted all application materials

About the end of February, we will start sending notifications of admission decisions to applicants.

Please keep an eye out for further instructions from the program staff regarding your next steps. If you are formally admitted, you will receive instructions for submitting your $50 departmental fee, how to complete the online Public Health Foundational Knowledge course (if required based on your academic history), and any other final steps in the formal admission process before you can begin the program.

International Applicants

Applicants must posses the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree to apply for a graduate program. International Admissions conducts in-house review of foreign credentials for F-1 and J-1 applicants. WES evaluation is not required but accepted if applicants choose to submit official transcripts and degree certificates through WES. Other Sacramento State accepted credential evaluation services are ACEI and ECE.

If you earned a degree from an institution located in a nation where English is not the official language, you must take the TOEFL, IELTS or PTE.  

Submit your Cal State Apply International Application, and follow the instructions above to help find the program. Please review the Cal State Application International Guide if you need help completing the application.

Other documents required for the application can be found here: https://www.csus.edu/international-programs-global-engagement/application-admissions-process/graduate.html

If you have an F or J visa only and foreign documents, please visit: https://www.csus.edu/graduate-studies/future-students/applicants-with-foreign-documents.html

Documents for OGS should be sent to:

Documents for IPGE should be sent to: