The School
Mission and Vision
The School’s mission is to promote and sustain healthier populations in New York City and around the world through excellence in education, research, and service in public health and by advocating for sound policy and practice to advance social justice and improve health outcomes for all.
The vision is to improve health and social justice in New York City and across the globe.
History
The City University of New York, the largest and most diverse urban public university in the United States, began training public health professionals in 1968 at Hunter College. It was one of the first public institutions without a school of public health to meet the growing demand for professionals who could tackle the complex health problems facing the nation’s increasingly diverse cities, and to translate the promise of the health and social reforms of the 1960s into public health practice and policy in urban neighborhoods. By 2006, the City University of New York offered MPH degree programs at three campuses: Hunter, Brooklyn, and Lehman Colleges. In 2007, the CUNY Graduate School, home to the University’s thirty-four doctoral programs, introduced a Doctor of Public Health (DPH). Believing that New York City and CUNY would be better served by uniting these public health programs, the University developed a collaborative school of public health in 2008, integrating the resources of the previously independent programs under the leadership of a single Dean.
In 2011, the School received its first full five-year accreditation from CEPH. In 2013, the CUNY Board of Trustees adopted changes to the School’s governance plan to better reflect the University-wide nature of the School and position it for continued and expanded collaborations, growth, and success including renaming the school to the CUNY School of Public Health.
In November 2015, the CUNY Board of Trustees approved a resolution directing the Chancellor of the University, James B. Milliken, to develop and implement a plan to transition the existing consortial School to a unified graduate school that would administer all master’s and doctoral-level degree programs, continuing as a unit within the CUNY Graduate School and University Center. The name of the School was changed to the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.
Organization
The Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (SPH) is housed administratively within the CUNY Graduate School and University Center. SPH is led by the Dean who reports directly to the CUNY Chancellor.
The Chancellor reports to the CUNY Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is a seventeen member body. The governor of the State of New York appoints ten members, the mayor of the City of New York appoints five members and two members serve in an ex officio capacity: the Chairperson of the University Student Senate and Chairperson of the University Faculty Senate.
Administration and Governance
The Dean has primary responsibility for oversight and management of the Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. Other major positions within the School include:
The Dean’s Public Health Advisory Council provides insight and advice to the Dean with respect to the external public health community. It is comprised of experienced public health and other leaders representing government, health care, business, non-profit, legal, community-based, and media sectors and organizations. The Council advises the Dean on research, academic programs, workforce development, training, and development to help ensure that the School meets the needs of the community.
The Associate and Assistant Deans are each responsible for leading and coordinating activities in the areas of administration, academic and faculty affairs, research, and student services, respectively. Their activities are coordinated through senior staff meetings with the Dean.
The Department Chairpersons are responsible for leading the academic programs and leading faculty within their respective departments: Community Health and Social Sciences; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Environmental, Occupational, and Geospatial Health Sciences; and Health Policy and Management.
The Dean’s Cabinet consists of the Dean, the Associate and Assistant Deans, department chairpersons, the chair of the Governance Council and other persons designated by the Dean. The Cabinet meets monthly and advises the Dean with respect to the policies and operations of the School.
The Graduate Council serves as the governing body of the Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy and is comprised of all full-time faculty members, as well as student, staff, and adjunct faculty representatives.
The CUNY SPH Foundation’s mission is to advance the achievement of CUNY SPH’s mission, vision and values as New York City’s public school of public health, and is led by a Board of Directors.
Faculty
A directory of SPH Faculty can be found on the School’s website.
CUNY SPH Campus
CUNY SPH, located at 55 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, occupies five floors of the building. The campus offers, but is not limited to, a 120-person lecture hall, video production room, student lounge, computer lab, conference rooms, eight classrooms, study lounge, office space, workstations, wellness room, and all gender bathrooms.
Accreditation
The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education through the Graduate School and University Center.
The School is granted professional accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
The MS-EOHS program is granted professional accreditation by the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (ABET).
The Nutrition and Dietetic Internship has been granted accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND).
NC-SARA Professional Licensure
The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA).
NC-SARA is an agreement among member states, districts and territories that establishes comparable national standards for the approval of interstate postsecondary distance education courses and programs. CUNY SPH online programs are approved by the New York State Education Department.
CUNY SPH is in compliance with NC-SARA requirements:
Professional Licensure Disclosure
U.S. Department of Education regulation, 34 CFR 668.43 (a) (5) (v) requires institutions to provide proper notification to students as to whether courses and programs will meet the professional licensure requirements in states where students are located.
State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements establish comparable national standards for institutions offering distance education towards professional licensure outside of their own state. Membership in NC-SARA allows CUNY SPH to offer distance learning programs to residents of states other than New York.
CUNY SPH is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. All academic programs offered by CUNY SPH are approved by the New York State Education Department. The Board of Regents in New York State (NYS) grants professional licensure/certificates to qualified candidates.
CUNY SPH academic programs have been designed to meet accreditation and licensure/certification requirements as well as prepare students to apply for licensure/certification exams in the State of New York. Licensing/certification requirements in New York may not be recognized as sufficient to obtain licensure/certification in any other state.
These disclosures are strictly limited to CUNY SPH’s determination of whether its programs, if successfully completed, would be sufficient to meet the licensure or certification requirements. The School cannot provide verification of an individual’s ability to meet licensure or certification requirements unrelated to its educational programming. Such individual determinations are made by state licensing boards, and are fact-specific determinations.
Programs Leading to Licensure/Certification
At this time (Fall 2026), CUNY SPH does not offer any online programs which lead to professional licensure. As approved online programs begin admitting online students, professional licensure information will be listed here and on the program website.
Student Complaint Process
Under NC-SARA consumer protection rules, students have the right to lodge a complaint related to consumer protections and/or NC-SARA policy via the NC-SARA complaint process. Refer to Section 4 of the SARA Policy Manual version 26.1 for details on what consumer complaints and protections are covered by the process. Please note that NC-SARA complaints do not include complaints related to grades or student conduct violations, complaints of this nature must be lodged through the SPH internal complaint process.
Decisions resulting from the CUNY SPH complaint process may be appealed to The City University of New York (CUNY). A complaint against a college in the CUNY system can be made via the Office of Student Advocacy and Referral:
City University of New York
Office of Student Advocacy and Referral
205 East 42nd St.
New York, NY 10017
Email: studentaffairs@cuny.edu
In the event that a person bringing a complaint is dissatisfied with the outcome at the CUNY SPH or CUNY level, they may pursue a complaint (except for complaints about grades or student conduct violations) with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) via the NYSED SARA Student Complaint Process. The deadline for filing a complaint with NYSED is two years.
Complaints may also be brought to the CUNY SPH accrediting body, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.