Rankings by major · 328 schools scored

Best colleges for public health

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for public health. The score weighs what graduates earn four years out against the same major nationally (25%), research spending in the field (20%, NSF), how many undergraduate courses the department lists (20%), the student body's test scores (20%) and the size of the program (15%, capped so size alone can't win). 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top public health schools: Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, University of Maryland, College Park.

Top 100 colleges for public health
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	100	Standout	160	8.4%	1.36×	8%
2	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	97	Standout	118	1.9%	1.54×	10%
3	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	96	Standout	437	4.9%	1.24×	45%
4	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	95	Standout	98	1.1%	1.35×	16%
5	Duke University Durham, NC	94	Standout	37	1.4%	1.75×	5%
6	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	93	Standout	60	2.1%	–	7%
7	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	93	Standout	378	4.4%	1.28×	58%
8	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	92	Standout	230	2.3%	1.18×	20%
9	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	92	Standout	206	2%	1.31×	11%
10	George Washington University Washington, DC	91	Standout	122	3.7%	1.50×	47%
11	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	91	Standout	342	3.7%	1.13×	29%
12	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	90	Standout	30	0.7%	–	9%
13	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	90	Standout	102	0.9%	1.21×	51%
14	University of Georgia Athens, GA	89	Standout	160	1.8%	1.34×	38%
15	New York University New York, NY	89	Standout	48	0.6%	1.21×	9%
16	Georgetown University Washington, DC	89	Standout	28	1.3%	–	13%
17	Tufts University Medford, MA	88	Standout	74	3.6%	1.29×	11%
18	University of Washington Seattle, WA	88	Standout	297	3.1%	1.09×	39%
19	Indiana University–Bloomington Bloomington, IN	87	Standout	172	2.3%	1.17×	78%
20	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	87	Standout	160	1.7%	1.13×	42%
21	Brown University Providence, RI	87	Standout	37	1.7%	1.28×	5%
22	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	86	Standout	246	1.8%	1.14×	52%
23	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	86	Standout	82	1.1%	–	55%
24	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	86	Standout	206	2.5%	1.15×	86%
25	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	85	Standout	64	0.7%	1.15×	50%
26	University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	85	Standout	18	0.3%	–	17%
27	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	85	Standout	269	3.8%	1.10×	60%
28	University of Delaware Newark, DE	84	Standout	156	3.2%	1.21×	71%
29	Chapman University Orange, CA	84	Standout	110	5.3%	1.24×	72%
30	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	84	Standout	58	1.4%	1.20×	46%
31	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	83	Standout	231	2.4%	–	24%
32	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	83	Standout	309	3%	1.05×	27%
33	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	83	Standout	23	0.6%	1.25×	70%
34	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	82	Standout	432	4.9%	1.04×	29%
35	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	82	Standout	28	1.9%	–	29%
36	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	82	Standout	176	2.8%	1.12×	87%
37	California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	82	Standout	61	1.2%	–	30%
38	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	81	Standout	10	0.3%	–	19%
39	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	81	Standout	22	1.1%	–	42%
40	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	81	Standout	50	3%	–	48%
41	University of Massachusetts–Lowell Lowell, MA	80	Standout	66	2.3%	1.12×	83%
42	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	80	Standout	44	2.5%	1.09×	75%
43	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	80	Standout	42	0.3%	1.10×	88%
44	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR	80	Standout	115	2%	1.07×	79%
45	American University Washington, DC	79	Strong	70	3.6%	1.21×	62%
46	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	79	Strong	68	1.4%	–	77%
47	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	79	Strong	145	2.6%	–	81%
48	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	78	Strong	166	1.9%	1.04×	37%
49	Baylor University Waco, TX	78	Strong	37	1%	–	52%
50	University of South Carolina Columbia, SC	78	Strong	436	6.1%	1.01×	60%
51	University of Missouri Columbia, MO	78	Strong	32	0.6%	–	78%
52	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	77	Strong	73	1.3%	–	80%
53	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	77	Strong	83	1.4%	–	96%
54	Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster, PA	77	Strong	37	5.8%	1.30×	28%
55	Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL	77	Strong	20	0.6%	–	75%
56	California State University–East Bay Hayward, CA	76	Strong	54	1.5%	–	97%
57	University at Albany–SUNY Albany, NY	76	Strong	51	1.6%	1.11×	69%
58	Elon University Elon, NC	76	Strong	40	2.3%	1.39×	66%
59	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	76	Strong	111	2.1%	1.16×	74%
60	University of North Carolina–Wilmington Wilmington, NC	75	Strong	120	3.2%	1.04×	64%
61	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC	75	Strong	50	0.9%	1.10×	80%
62	Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL	75	Strong	50	3.3%	–	73%
63	Utah State University Logan, UT	74	Strong	14	0.3%	1.60×	94%
64	California State University–San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA	74	Strong	63	1.5%	1.13×	98%
65	Mercer University Macon, GA	74	Strong	58	4.4%	1.04×	69%
66	Creighton University Omaha, NE	74	Strong	6	0.4%	–	92%
67	Bentley University Waltham, MA	73	Strong	3	0.3%	–	58%
68	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	73	Strong	28	1.1%	–	73%
69	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT	73	Strong	10	0.8%	–	33%
70	CUNY–Hunter College New York, NY	73	Strong	33	0.9%	1.10×	54%
71	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	72	Strong	98	1.7%	1.01×	93%
72	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	72	Strong	51	1.2%	1.11×	89%
73	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ	72	Strong	138	2.4%	1.06×	91%
74	California State University–Sacramento Sacramento, CA	72	Strong	164	2.2%	–	92%
75	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ	71	Strong	43	2.5%	1.14×	64%
76	University of Washington Bothell Bothell, WA	71	Strong	128	7.2%	1.09×	88%
77	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	71	Strong	203	2%	0.92×	43%
78	East Carolina University Greenville, NC	71	Strong	278	5.7%	1.02×	89%
79	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	70	Strong	176	3.1%	0.99×	86%
80	Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA	70	Strong	12	0.8%	–	84%
81	Miami University–Oxford Oxford, OH	70	Strong	90	1.9%	0.98×	75%
82	Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA	70	Strong	2	0.1%	–	89%
83	University of Nevada–Reno Reno, NV	69	Strong	332	8.5%	–	83%
84	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	69	Strong	229	3.2%	–	80%
85	Denison University Granville, OH	69	Strong	10	1.6%	–	17%
86	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	69	Strong	1	0.1%	–	62%
87	University of Minnesota–Duluth Duluth, MN	68	Strong	35	1.6%	1.02×	81%
88	University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL	68	Strong	108	3.7%	0.76×	94%
89	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	68	Strong	44	0.8%	1.01×	77%
90	Furman University Greenville, SC	68	Strong	11	1.5%	–	43%
91	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	67	Strong	150	2.2%	0.89×	68%
92	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	67	Strong	18	0.3%	–	89%
93	Portland State University Portland, OR	67	Strong	126	2.8%	1.01×	93%
94	Illinois State University Normal, IL	67	Strong	22	0.5%	1.45×	88%
95	Montana Technological University Butte, MT	66	Strong	20	7%	1.49×	90%
96	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY	66	Strong	57	3.9%	1.01×	68%
97	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	66	Strong	18	0.3%	0.95×	87%
98	Trinity University San Antonio, TX	66	Strong	2	0.3%	–	26%
99	Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA	65	Strong	20	3.1%	–	72%
100	Wayne State University Detroit, MI	65	Strong	253	6%	0.95×	81%

228 more schools are on the full public health ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 18, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.

To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for public health," updated October 18, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/public-health. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.

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Best colleges for public health

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