Fall 2026 Application Opens: Oct. 1, 2025

Priority Deadline: Dec. 1, 2025

Final Deadline for International Applicants: March 1, 2026

Final Deadline for Domestic Applicants: May 1, 2026 - admission offer based on space available.

All complete applications received by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, will be reviewed and considered for admission in Fall 2026. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications submitted after Dec. 1, 2025, will be considered only if they are complete and admission will be offered only if space is available. No applications will be accepted after May 1, 2026.

The GRE is NOT required. Letters of Recommendation are NOT required. However, contact information for two references is required. Please note this is not a STEM program.

Prerequisite Courses

Foundational knowledge competencies are prerequisite knowledge that students are expected to have when entering the MPH program. Students may demonstrate mastery of the competencies in either of the following two ways:

• Undergraduate degree in public health, community health from a CEPH accredited program.
• Successful completion of the MPH 100 course with a score of 80% or higher on all course assessments. 

Students are informed once they have submitted their Intent To Enroll (ITE) as a final step in the admission process whether they must complete MPH 100 in order to matriculate as a student in the MPH program. MPH 100 is a self-paced asynchronous course with a cost of $200. Students must complete the course and final exam before the first day of their first semester in the MPH program. 

Step 1: Complete the University Graduate Application online.

• Submit your Cal State Apply application online.
• After setting up your Cal State Apply account and completing your Extended Profile, select the MPH program on the Add Program page:
  • Filter for: Sacramento
  • Scroll to: SACRAMENTO EXTENSION
  • Click the plus sign (“+”) next to: Public Health – Master’s of Public Health
  • Verify the start term and year: Fall 2026
• While completing the application, you must list all colleges/universities you have attended, even if you did not earn a degree from that institution, or if you only enrolled in one class and dropped it.
  • You do not need to list each individual course you completed through each institution.
• The $70 non-refundable University Application fee will be paid online at the end of the application before submission.
• Admitted students pay a $50 departmental application fee upon formal admission to the program. 
• If you have technical issues with the application, please call (857) 304-2087 for assistance.
• We strongly urge you to submit your application several weeks in advance of the deadline in order to give yourself enough time to complete the remaining steps in the application process.
• View the Graduate Application Guide for detailed instructions.

Step 2: Submit Supplemental Program Application Documents

In order to be considered for admission, you must also submit all supplemental program application documents. Submit these items in Quadrant IV of the Cal State Apply application.

Please upload the following required documents:

• Completed MPH Supplemental Application: (link forthcoming)
  This will be an editable PDF that you can fill out, save, and upload online. (Please double-check that your information is saved in the editable fields before uploading.) If you prefer, you may print the form, fill it out by hand, sign and scan the form before uploading.
• A current professional resume or CV: 1-2 pages maximum, addressing your relevant paid and unpaid experience.
• Personal Essay: Please provide a personal essay that addresses each of the three prompts below. Be sure to number and title each section of the essay in alignment with the prompts listed below and limit your responses to no more than one page for each prompt (maximum three pages in total).
• Three Essay Prompts:
  • Path to Public Health: How did you become interested in the field of public health and why are you pursuing a graduate degree in this field? Why are you applying to the MPH program at Sacramento State?
  • Commitment to Public Health: What are your career goals and how will an MPH help you advance those goals? Describe the ways you are committed to serving many different communities as a public health professional.
  • My Readiness for Graduate Education: How have you prepared your life to meet the demands of graduate-level education? How have your life experiences so far prepared you to collaborate with colleagues in the program from a variety of different backgrounds?
• Formatting Requirements: Your essay must (i) include your name at the top, (ii) be organized by number and title according to the list of prompts above, (iii) be double-spaced with 12-point font and 1-inch margins, and (iv) be saved as a PDF. Your essay must address all three prompts listed above. Essays are scored for completeness, depth of content, and writing mechanics. 
   
• One set of unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities attended, including transcripts from ALL community colleges attended and colleges where credit was earned as a high school student or evidence of foreign document submission to an approved evaluation agency. If you have attended more than five colleges/universities, please combine your unofficial transcripts. Five uploaded documents are the maximum allowed. Missing documents will result in a delay in application processing. 
  • If you have transcripts from institutions outside of the United States, please submit your transcripts one month prior to the deadline to allow time for a foreign credential evaluation. Please review the Office of Graduate Studies website for information about applicants with foreign documents.
  • Once admitted to the program, applicants are required to submit one official transcript from all colleges and/or universities attended, in university-sealed envelopes or through the university’s e-transcript service (preferred method), directly to the Office of Graduate Studies by the transcript deadline.

Step 3:  Submit official transcripts.

• An official copy of transcripts from all colleges and universities attended, other than Sacramento State; send electronic transcripts to gradtranscripts@csus.edu or hard copy transcripts to:

• Photocopies or opened transcripts will not be accepted.
• If you have transcripts from institutions outside of the United States, please submit your transcripts one month prior to the deadline to allow time for a foreign credential evaluation. Please review the Office of Graduate Studies website for information about applicants with foreign documents.
• We also strongly urge you to put in your requests to have your official transcripts sent to us from US institutions several weeks in advance of the deadline as well, in order to ensure that we receive them in time.

For detailed instructions about applying to Cal State Apply, see the Office of Graduate Studies Application Information and Procedures webpage.

After you have submitted all application materials

Around the end of February 2026, we will begin sending notifications of admission decisions to applicants.

Please keep an eye out for further instructions from the program staff regarding your next steps. If you are formally admitted, you will receive instructions for submitting your $50 departmental fee, how to complete the online Public Health Foundational Knowledge course (if required based on your academic history), and any other final steps in the formal admission process before you can begin the program.

International Applicants

Applicants must possess the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree to apply for a graduate program. International Admissions conducts an in-house review of foreign credentials for F-1 and J-1 applicants. WES evaluation is not required, but is accepted if applicants choose to submit official transcripts and degree certificates through WES. Other Sacramento State accepted credential evaluation services are ACEI and ECE.

If you earned a degree from an institution located in a nation where English is not the official language, you must take the TOEFL, IELTS or PTE.  

Submit your Cal State Apply International Application, and follow the instructions above to help find the program. Please review the Cal State Application International Guide if you need help completing the application.

Other documents required for the application can be found here: https://www.csus.edu/international-programs-global-engagement/application-admissions-process/graduate.html

If you have an F or J visa only and foreign documents, please visit: https://www.csus.edu/graduate-studies/future-students/applicants-with-foreign-documents.html

Documents for OGS should be sent to:

Documents for IPGE should be sent to: