Is a Top Ten Ranked (US News) MPH Worth the Money?

[sdc213]

Hi Everyone,

I was just recently accepted to Emory for an MPH in Health Policy and Management. It was my 'reach' school so to speak since I had super low gpa and only 1 year of international public health work experience when I applied.

I'm really happy about the acceptance but I don't know if attending will be worth the 90K I will have to take out in loans to relocate to Atlanta and pay for school. I guess what I'm asking is if it's worth going to a top ranked one versus a cheaper school (for me that would be UMDNJ). Especially in terms of getting a job etc.

I plan on getting my MBA in the next few years and all I can see is a pile of loans that is very daunting.
Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

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[enox0485]

Hi Everyone,

I was just recently accepted to Emory for an MPH in Health Policy and Management. It was my 'reach' school so to speak since I had super low gpa and only 1 year of international public health work experience when I applied.

I'm really happy about the acceptance but I don't know if attending will be worth the 90K I will have to take out in loans to relocate to Atlanta and pay for school. I guess what I'm asking is if it's worth going to a top ranked one versus a cheaper school (for me that would be UMDNJ). Especially in terms of getting a job etc.

I plan on getting my MBA in the next few years and all I can see is a pile of loans that is very daunting.
Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

I figured I would address this as I am currently going to Emory and also have my MBA. In all honesty the question of whether it is worth it depends on what you see yourself doing within the next few years for your career. For me personally, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in either healthcare administration or healthcare consulting so looking at the median salaries for these industries I tried to figure out if I could get adequate ROI. Here is my disclosure: I came from a top tier (public) undergrad debt free, I then worked for 4 years in which time I went to a mid-tier school at night to get my MBA. The reason I went mid-tier is that with my company's tuition reimbursement I could pay for it without going into any debt. However, this was with the intention that eventually I would go back and get my final degree/MPH from a top-tier school. Getting back to your question, I will break it into two parts: developing core competencies and brand equity. So with core competencies, will Emory HPM develop a significantly better skill set than UMDNJ? Not knowing much about UMDNJ, I will assume that Emory has more policy and management opportunities as well as HPM related research opportunities because it has its own health system and the CDC across the road. Does this difference warrant the additional cost? Probably not. Now to brand equity. Emory offers a good brand for its MPH students and will help you get recruitment from some very prestigious (higher salary) institutions. Further, having the Emory/RSPH name on your resume will always help with advancement opportunities in the future. In this context, I believe that paying a premium for the brand is worth it. BTW there is no way it's going to cost 90k for you to go to school at Emory. Even taking out money for housing its more towards the high 60s or 70s. Saving money for housing and finding part time income, I have been able to get the debt to the low 50s. The estimate that is given is for student loan purposes and not the actual cost of your education.

You say you want an MBA but for what position or for what reason? An MPH as a stand alone may be sufficient for you to gain access in consulting, public sector work, pharma, or private insurers. Once you have through graduate level recruitment "you're in" with these firms and at that point it's solely based on your performance. Getting an MBA at that point will most likely yield diminishing returns. If you want to go hospital administration then I would recommend an MHA, an MBA with a comprehensive healthcare concentration, or a joint MBA/MPH degree. Probably the most streamlined route is the MHA. However, these programs have become very competitive. It is also very important IMO that you go to a top-tier MHA. The reason it's so important as with the is that administrative fellowships are getting very competitive. If you want to work for a nationally recognized health system or academic medical center there is an expectation that you went to a top-tier school. It isn't always a requirement, but it is typically the norm. If your goal is health administration with an MPH standalone I would recommend taking additional business classes (which you can do at Emory for no additional charge due to block scheduling) and being very proactive in getting health system experience. For me having the MBA already helped with getting recruited with summer internships. However, I feel that if you are able to market yourself that you have the 'nuts&bolts' business knowledge to do administration you can garner some attention.

So long into a short, Emory is worth it depending on the type of employment you're seeking. There are certainly more direct routes to go if you're interested in going health admin rather than doing two separate masters degrees. While from a cost standpoint I have saved significant money working and getting an MBA and then getting my MPH, from a time standpoint it has taken me 4 years rather than 2.5 years to get my degrees. Ultimately your decision will require you to do a cost benefit analysis and depends on how risk adverse you are. When you calculate how much a school is make sure to factor in living expenses. If for instance UMDNJ is about 30k for the masters and living expenses are 20k extra for the 2 years (or more-- NJ is expensive) then the gap isn't as great as you think. Just my two-cents.

 

[sdc213]

enox0485, thank you so much for the thorough and thoughtful reply. Emory is my number one choice, but I didn't anticipate being accepted so I wasn't prepared to go at all. If I was to got to UMDNJ, I would live at home with parents and commute since it's literally 10 minutes from my house.

I'm so happy that you phrased your response in terms of ROI and brand equity because graduate school is a means to an end (a very fruitful learning experience to an end). Emory does have more policy and management opportunities than any of the other schools I applied to and I believe that I will not only get a better education but have better opportunities afterwards because of the connections I could make there.
I don't want to work in health administration, I have a background in international health (I was in Thailand for a year working on health and wellness programming for a non-profit) and I want to see how I can combine health policy with international health programming in low-income countries. How I'm going to do this..I'll figure it out.

The only thing that is causing me to pause and really evaluate both schools was because of the money. I have a few more weeks to decide and your input has helped me more than anyone else I've spoken with. Thank you!

 

[sdc213]

Just as an update for people who are looking in for more info: I found this thread from last year that talks about Emory vs. In state and also brand name schools as a whole and if they are worth it.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=887851

 

[enox0485]

Just as an update for people who are looking in for more info: I found this thread from last year that talks about Emory vs. In state and also brand name schools as a whole and if they are worth it.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=887851

SDC213 feel free to PM me if you want if you have any particular questions pertaining to HPM at Emory. While I am pursuing the health services management track, I may be able to link you up with some people who are more policy focused so that you can bounce questions off them. It looks like you have some tough decisions to make, however being faced with multiple options is a good problem to have. Last year when I was choosing schools cost weighed heavily on me too. I can certainly empathize with where you're at right now.