Public Health (MPH) -/Master of Public Health

Success at Ohio State depends upon your ability to converse in, write and understand English. The university requires official TOEFL or IELTS Academic test scores from applicants:

• whose native language is not English,
• who have been educated primarily outside of the U.S., or
• who have held U.S. permanent resident, asylee or refugee status for less than one year from the first term of enrollment.

To be official, score results must be received directly from the testing agency (ETS or IELTS) by your application deadline.

Minimum test scores

Note: Many graduate programs require a score above these minimums.

• TOEFL
  • 19 on each section of the paper-based TOEFL
  • 79 on the internet-based TOEFL or TOEFL Special Home Edition
• IELTS
  • 7.0 on the IELTS Academic test or IELTS Indicator (6.5 for Moritz College of Law applicants)
• Duolingo
  • 105 or higher
  • Note: The Duolingo test cannot be used to exempt an admitted student from the English placement exam or the Oral Proficiency Assessment for Graduate Teaching Associates.

Exemptions

Applicants who are citizens of, or who have received a bachelor’s degree or higher from, one of the following countries are exempt from the English proficiency requirement: Australia, Belize, the British Caribbean and British West Indies, Canada (except Quebec), England, Guyana, Ireland, Liberia, New Zealand, Scotland, the United States and Wales.

If you are admitted

With few exceptions, international students (including those who were exempted from English proficiency requirements) are required to sit for an ESL Composition Placement Test upon arrival. In addition, if you are awarded a Graduate Teaching Associateship and English is not your first language, you will be required to certify your oral proficiency in English before assuming your associateship duties.

Read more about requirements after you are admitted.

One of Ohio State's graduate admission criteria is the completion of an American four-year bachelor's degree or the equivalent. Three-year degrees are not generally recognized to be equivalent.

How to become eligible to apply to graduate school

The minimum requirement for admission to an Ohio State graduate program is 16 years of study. This is usually 12 years of secondary school plus four years of post-secondary study at a college or university. If you only have three years of post-secondary study, you must complete one of the following:

• A master's degree (or higher)
• An approved post-graduate diploma
• An additional year of university-level coursework

This work must be completed at an accredited university. Please note that we cannot give absolute assurance that your academic documentation will qualify you for graduate study until we have reviewed your documents. When you apply, you must provide transcripts and degree statements for all post-secondary course work at a college or university.

Additional notes for specific countries

The following degrees are recognized by Ohio State.