Public Health Program Transfer Credit Policy

Public Health Program

Students who apply for admissions may transfer up to 15 graduate credits, representing 30 percent of the total credits in the curriculum, to the PHSU Public Health Program. The graduate courses must be relevant to the field of public health and related to the program’s core or elective courses. The Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) and Applied Practicum Experience (APE) courses taken at other institutions cannot be transferred to the PHSU Public Health Program.
To consider transfer credits, the graduate courses must be taken at institutions accredited by the Board of Postsecondary Institutions or a US regional accreditor.

Students applying for transfer of credits must apply to the Office of Admissions during the beginning of the admissions process. Interested students are required to provide the institutional catalog and course syllabi. The PHSU Office of Admissions will refer the cases to the Public Health Program. The Program will establish an Evaluation Committee composed of two Public Health faculty to assess the graduate courses that students submitted for transfer.

This Evaluation Committee will have the responsibility to evaluate the following:

• The comparability of the course content
• The course length: number of credits or contact hours (can be more but not significantly less)
• The grading system (the requested courses for transfer must be approved with at least a B or Pass grade).

The Evaluation Committee will respond by the second week of classes of the first quarter for entering students at the PHSU Public Health Program.

Public Health Program Transfer of Credits Policy for Public Health Program Graduate Students

This policy applies to all graduate students enrolled in the Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH) program at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU).

• Eligibility
  • Any graduate student with a Master’s Degree in Public Health at PHSU can apply for a second specialty: General, Epidemiology, Environmental Health, and International Health.
• Credit Validation and Requirements
  • The PHSU Public Health Program will validate 29 credits required for a first-year MPH student.
  • The applicant must complete all the credits required for the second specialty.
  • This includes all required courses, electives, Applied Practicum Experience (APE), and Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) for the second specialty.
• Process for Applying
  • Application Submission:
    • Interested students must submit a readmission application to the Admissions office.
  • Review and Approval:
    • The Public Health Program will review the application.
    • Approval will be based on the previous student’s satisfactory academic progress for the first specialty and the capacity to manage the additional coursework.
  • Credit Transfer:
    • Upon approval, the credits from the first-year MPH coursework will be validated.
  • Enrollment in Second Specialty:
    • The student will then be enrolled in the required courses for the second specialty.
  • Completion Requirements
    • The student must complete all courses and electives and pass the Applied Practicum Experience (APE) and Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) for the second specialty to obtain certification of completion.
  • Applied Practicum Experience (APE) and Integrated Learning Experience (ILE)
    • The Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) will cover all core and specialist areas of the second specialty.
    • The Applied Practicum Experience (APE) must be related to the second specialty.
    • Students must approve the Applied Practicum Experience (APE) and the Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) to fulfill the requirements of the second specialty.
  • Advising
    • Students are encouraged to seek academic advising to ensure they meet all requirements and manage their workload effectively.