New Program Shortens Students’ Path to Careers in Public Health

Grinnell College students interested in working in public health can now begin their careers more quickly, thanks to an innovative cooperative degree program between Grinnell and the University of Iowa.

The new program will enable Grinnell students from any major to earn both a B.A. degree and a Master of Public Health degree in five years, rather than the customary six.

The Grinnell-Iowa MPH program will begin admitting students in spring 2015.

Grinnell College President Raynard S. Kington — a physician and public-health investigator who served as deputy director of the National Institutes of Health before coming to Grinnell in 2010 — says the program reflects Grinnell’s strong commitment to providing a broad liberal arts education that prepares students “for the honorable discharge of the duties of life.

“I cannot think of a better or more timely collaboration,” Kington adds. “This program will build on the breadth of Grinnell’s nationally known liberal arts curriculum and the depth of the University of Iowa’s outstanding public health program. This is a paradigm for how nationally selective liberal arts colleges can partner with leading universities to provide students with an education that will enable them to make a real difference in the world.”

“Grinnell’s core value of social responsibility aligns well with the basic tenets of public health including social justice, equity, and sustainability,” says Mary Lober Aquilino, Iowa associate dean for MPH and undergraduate programs. “The University of Iowa College of Public Health will benefit from the ability to draw from a diverse and highly qualified student group.”

Jim Swartz, Grinnell’s Dack Professor of Chemistry and one of the faculty members who helped develop the cooperative degree program, notes that “Grinnell graduates have a strong commitment to improve the human condition. Graduate study in public health, combined with a liberal arts education, opens career opportunities for Grinnell students as policymakers, program administrators, epidemiologists or biostatisticians, among others.

“Some of these students major in biology or mathematics,” Swartz adds, “and others major in anthropology, or art, or some other field. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of Grinnell’s coursework — along with our individually advised curriculum and commitment to social justice — help prepare our students for careers in public health.”

Grinnell students from any major may apply for the program, beginning in February 2015. Students accepted into the program will complete the first four years at Grinnell, and then move to the University of Iowa College of Public Health for their final year.

During their fourth year at Grinnell, participating students will pay Grinnell College tuition and the College will reimburse the University of Iowa at the university’s rate for all enrolled students. Upon completion of their B.A. degrees at Grinnell, they will pay tuition directly to the University of Iowa.

Students in the cooperative degree program can move more quickly toward the master’s degree because some courses in the program satisfy requirements at both Grinnell and the University of Iowa.