UNC School of Public Health - Reasons to come to Carolina

Home

Health Behavior and Health Education

Reasons to come to Carolina

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
MSPH/PhD student My-Linh Luong presents her research at the 2011 Minority Health Conference
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 at Duke, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University, and UNC-Greensboro.
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 town. We have an excellent variety
HB students at the first annual Gillings Games
of restaurants in the area from nationally known (Lantern, Magnolia Grill) to eateries focused on locally grown foods to funky burrito joints. There is a thriving live music scene. Our Triangle neighbors, Durham and Raleigh, also have lots to offer from professional sports to the arts to the riches of other university campuses. The Full Frame Festival, the world's premier documentary film festival, is held in Durham as is the North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

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 3 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 gorgeous 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 May 02, 2012