Reasons to come to Carolina

As you think about coming to the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, here’s some information to help you decide.      Excellence. We are the top public school of public health in the country. We recently received a $50 million gift that is giving the School and our students even more resources to excel. Diversity. We are a diverse community of scholars within a city that has people from all over the world. Students and scholars discuss global health issues in the Global Health Roundtable. Students organize the annual Minority Health Conference, attended by over 300 people (www.minority.unc.edu/sph/minconf/). A vibrant student group raises awareness of lesbian, gay and transgender issues in public health.   Value. Tuition is the lowest of any comparable school. Most students are funded for their studies. In the past four years, all doctoral students and 80% of master’s students have received full funding. The Triangle is a very affordable area. Rent and other costs are quite low. Once enrolled at UNC, you can take classes for free at Duke and NC State University.      Interdisciplinarity. The Department is deeply interdisciplinary, sharing research, practice and training opportunities with many units across campus, including Medicine, Journalism, Information and Library Science, Nursing, and Psychology. All of these units are close by, making collaboration easy and fun. Open doors. Faculty have an open door policy. When you walk down the hallway, you’ll see office doors open, giving you ready access to faculty. Having state funding affords faculty more time for mentoring students than at many private institutions.   Lifetime friendships. Alumni of our training programs constantly remark about how their fellow students become both lifelong friends as well as an active network that supports professional goals.   Fun. Chapel Hill is a great city. We have excellent restaurants (two of the top restaurants in the nation—Magnolia Grill and the Lantern—are nearby). There is a thriving live music scene. The Full Frame Festival, the world’s premier documentary film festival, is held here. North Carolina has amazing weather (it rarely snows, and we often have weeks of sixty or seventy degree weather in the winter). The Carolina Beaches, just 2 hours to the east, are quite famous. Ocracoke Island’s beach is regularly voted one of the ten best in the nation. And just 3 hours west you’ll find the gorgeous Smokey Mountains. Jobs. Alumni hold public health leadership positions all over the world. Better still, many stay in close touch with the Department and are eager to help, meaning that new grads have access to a powerful and proactive professional network when they return to the job market. Most students find jobs in their desired fields within three months of graduating.

Last updated June 19, 2008