Local students work on distance classes outside of the Michael Hooker Research Center

All programs have been specifically designed and developed for delivery via the Internet.  The vast majority of distance education courses offered through the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health take place on Blackboard, an online platform.  Most courses are asynchronous, meaning you do not need to be online at a specific time.  In addition, most distance courses will take approximately 10-12 hours per week for successful completion of the course.

Distance education courses consists of a mix of readings, group assignments , individual assignments and audio/visual tutorials.

While distance education is not the optimal learning style for every student, the vast majority of our distance students find it to be an invigorating and challenging experience.  Distance education affords them the opportunity to achieve their educational goals and network with an accomplished group of peers from all over the United States and the world while continuing with their work and family responsibilities. 

Technical requirements 

Our recommended hardware and software guidelines are listed through this link. If your system does not match these guidelines exactly, you are still welcome to consider taking an online course. If you are pretty far off from these guidelines, however, you will want to upgrade the necessary components to avoid possible problems and frustration.