Graduate Programs

Master's Degrees


Global Health, MS

The MS in Global Health prepares students to conduct multidisciplinary research on health issues of global importance. Students complete coursework on these issues as well as in epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methods.

Health Informatics, MS

The master of science in health informatics provides students with highly specialized knowledge and skills needed to support the adoption and use of health information systems and data analytic applications for a variety of clinical, administrative, and research purposes. It is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).

Health Policy, MS

This 42-credit hour master's program provides students with the skills necessary to become health policy decision-makers at the local, state, and national levels; consultants; or public health advocates in the United States and abroad. Applications are accepted for both fall and spring admissions.

Health Systems Management, MHA

This master's program prepares future executives to assume leadership positions in health care organizations. We prepare health care professionals with strategic, business, analytic, and decision-making skills needed to successfully navigate the evolving health care industry.

The MHA program is available in either an on-campus or online format. Both formats use the same curriculum. Online format courses are taken one at a time. Each online format course lasts 8 weeks.

Nurse Practitioner Concentration, MSN

The College of Public Health offers an innovative MSN track to prepare nurse practitioners in primary care.  The program is a competency-based curriculum as students gain the necessary knowledge and skills to provide holistic care to individuals, families, and populations across the health continuum; graduates are highly regarded and have historically readily found employment upon graduation. Our graduates pass their respective certification exams through the ANCC (FNP) well above the national mean.

Nutrition, MS

The master of science in nutrition program emphasizes a skillset tailored to expanding nutrition-related needs. Students learn to assess, evaluate, and intervene in the most current and relevant nutrition issues. The curriculum prepares graduates to work for agencies, businesses, and organizations that seek to improve nutrition at the local, national, and global level. This program also prepares students to engage in further study for research careers in nutrition.

Public Health, MPH

The Master of Public Health (MPH) is the foremost professional degree, recognized worldwide, for those wishing to enter or advance in the field of public health. Our MPH program prepares students with the foundational public health knowledge and competencies to address the most pressing and emerging health problems through six concentrations:

Social Work, MSW

George Mason's accredited Master of Social Work (MSW) program, which began in the fall of 2002, prepares students for advanced social work practice. Our MSW program provides students with an initial Generalist year, followed by a year of Specialized study. Students have the option of enrolling under a two-year, three-year, or four-year plan. Those who have earned a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited program may qualify for the Advanced Standing program.

Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Programs

Graduate Certificates

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate

This certificate prepares students for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) role through formal study in the theory and practice of advanced practice psychiatric nursing in a variety of practice settings within the health care delivery system. Graduates will be eligible for prescriptive authority and will have the potential to perform a variety of mental health services, including medication management and psychotherapy. Course and practice content focus on the assessment and management of serious mental illness.

Food Security, Graduate Certificate

Food security and food safety are issues of growing concern by government agencies, multilateral organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Despite many longstanding efforts, it is estimated that up to one billion people across the globe are hungry and food insecure in both developing and industrialized countries, including the United States.

Health Informatics and Data Analytics, Graduate Certificate

The health informatics and data analytics certificate prepares clinicians and health care managers, as well as information technology (IT) professionals to develop and manage health information technology systems. Certificate course work stresses the impact of technology on outcomes and quality of health care services. Students in the program can focus on general health informatics or health data analytics.

Nursing Education Graduate Certificate

This program combines foundation courses in education with courses in the principles and practices of nursing education. It prepares students to function in nursing educational roles in academic and nonacademic settings.

Nutrition, Graduate Certificate

The graduate certificate in nutrition prepares students to apply nutrition principles and the latest scientific evidence and methods of nutrition to health practice and research among different populations. The program emphasizes understanding the role of nutrition in population health and well-being and the development of skills required in the practice, analysis, and interpretation of nutrition-related information and data among individuals and populations.

Public Health, Graduate Certificate

The Public Health Graduate Certificate offers two concentrations: Generalist and Leadership and Management. Both concentrations allow students to take public health coursework on topics of interest without committing to a full degree program.

Doctoral Degrees

Health Services Research, PhD

This post-master’s multidisciplinary program focuses on analytical and data-driven methods for examination of the social, political, economic and technological forces that affect the organization, financing, delivery and regulation of health care services. Students in the program acquire the interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to creatively research complex health and health system problems.

Nursing, DNP

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree is nursing's highest professional practice degree. George Mason's School of Nursing offers an innovative DNP program including post-baccalaureate (BSN to DNP) and post-master's (MSN to DNP) options. The DNP program provides an opportunity for nurses to become experts as nurse practitioners and nurse administrators. Emphasis is placed on evaluating and applying the evidence that supports practice, understanding and creating practice delivery systems based on patient outcomes, and assuming leadership roles in practice settings.

Nursing, PhD

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) prepares scholars who will pursue intellectual inquiry and creative scholarship through independent and collaborative research, advance nursing science, and provide leadership to the nursing profession. Students will develop a depth of knowledge in their scientific emphasis area through required course work and mentored research experience, selection of supporting electives, independent study, and dissertation research.

Public Health, PhD

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Health prepares graduates to think critically as public health scientists, develop subject matter expertise and analytical skills to become successful independent researchers, and respond to the most pressing public health challenges facing Virginia, the nation, and the world.