MA in Bioethics/MPH

Why pursue an MA-Bioethics/MPH dual degree?

The goal of this program is to train a select group of students in the intersection of public health and bioethics. Students who graduate with a dual MA-Bioethics/MPH degree will be well qualified to work in public health to help set priorities for pandemics or other allocations of scarce resources, to set public policy for health departments or states on access to health care, or to conduct education on the ethical foundations of public health practice. 

Degree Information

Students interested in pursuing the dual MA-Bioethics/MPH degree will need to complete satisfactorily the 30-credit hours of the MA-Bioethics program as well as the Rollins School of Public Health MPH degree requirements (42 credit hours including a practicum and culminating experience). Two semesters of residency in the School of Public Health are required of all dual degree students. Students are required to complete MPH degree core courses, department required courses, and elective coursework. Up to ten semester hours of credit earned in the partnering school may be counted as elective credit hours towards the MPH degree, but there is no similar arrangement for the MA-Bioethics degree. Courses for each program that may count as elective credits towards the MPH degree include:

MA-Bioethics

  • BIOETH 502: Classic Issues in Bioethics (3 hrs)
  • BIOETH 503: Contemporary Issues in Bioethics (3 hrs)
  • BIOETH 505*: Special Topics (3 hrs)

*Can be taken multiple times; previous/current courses in this number include:

  • Bioethics and the Law
  • Animals and Ethics
  • Neuroethics
  • Ethics of Human Subjects Research
  • Public Health Ethics
  • Religion and Bioethics
  • Distributive Justice
  • Human Rights and Bioethics 

Students enrolled in dual degree programs receive both degrees simultaneously upon completion of all degree requirements for both programs.

Financial Implications

During their residency in the Rollins School of Public Health, students will be charged the current rate of tuition for dual degree students.

Learn more information on these MPH tuition rates

When enrolled in the Laney Graduate School, the student will be charged the current rate of tuition for the MA-Bioethics Program. School-sponsored scholarships and grants are applicable only to those semesters in which the student is in residency at the respective school.

Students will choose one program in which to enroll for the MPH; depending on this program, the student’s schedule may differ. Regardless, students will complete the first year of coursework at Rollins School of Public Health, and the second year at Laney Graduate School.

Specific information on the program in particular departments

Applying for the MPH/MA-Bioethics Dual Degree

Candidates for the dual degree program must apply to each school separately. Evaluation criteria for admission to the School of Public Health for students in the dual-degree program are the same as those for the MPH program alone; similarly, evaluation criteria for admission to Laney Graduate School for students in the dual degree program are the same as those for the MA-Bioethics Program alone.

Students accepted into the dual degree program will be notified of acceptance by both schools. If students are accepted into one school but not the other, they may enroll in the school that has accepted them, but not as a dual degree student.

Upon admission to the dual degree program, students should consult with the appropriate program director of each school to plan their courses of study.