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Epidemiologist education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become an epidemiologist. Epidemiologists usually study ecology, population biology, and epidemiology, public health, or biology. 44% of epidemiologists hold a master's degree, and 44% hold an bachelor's degree. We analyzed 799 real epidemiologist resumes to see exactly what epidemiologist education sections show.
The most common colleges for epidemiologists are the Emory University and the Emory University.
There are also many online epidemiologist courses to help get the education required to be an epidemiologist.
There are certain epidemiologist certifications that you should consider. These epidemiologist certifications include Certified in Public Health (CPH) and Certified Medical Interpreter - Spanish (CMI).
What education do you need to become an epidemiologist?
What degree do you need to be an epidemiologist?
- Master's, 44%
- Bachelor's, 44%
- Doctorate, 9%
- Associate, 2%
- Other Degrees, 1%
What should I major in to become an epidemiologist?
- Public Health, 22%
- Biology, 13%
- Psychology, 5%
- Other Majors, 33%
Most common colleges for epidemiologists
| Epidemiologist common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Emory University | 11.19% |
| Tulane University | 6.29% |
| University of Arizona | 6.29% |
| George Washington University, The | 6.29% |
| Boston University | 5.59% |
Best majors for epidemiologists
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ecology, Population Biology, And Epidemiology | 26.7% |
| 2 | Public Health | 21.6% |
| 3 | Biology | 13.0% |
| 4 | Psychology | 5.3% |
| 5 | Microbiology | 4.9% |
Best colleges for epidemiologists
The best colleges for epidemiologists are Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University.
An epidemiologist with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for epidemiologists. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become epidemiologists.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
3. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
In-state tuition
$53,430
Enrollment
5,963
4. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$13,226
Enrollment
31,568
5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
6. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$54,104
Enrollment
7,089
7. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
In-state tuition
$49,816
Enrollment
6,840
8. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
9. Tufts University
Medford, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,382
Enrollment
5,597
10. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
In-state tuition
$53,399
Enrollment
7,356
20 best online courses for epidemiologists
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1. Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice
Epidemiology is often described as the cornerstone science in public health. Epidemiology in public health practice uses study design and analyses to identify causes in an outbreak situation, guides interventions to improve population health, and evaluates programs and policies. In this course, we'll define the role of the professional epidemiologist as it relates to public health services, functions, and competencies. With that foundation in mind, we'll introduce you to the problem solving...
2. Global Disease Masterclass
The Global Disease Masterclass specialisation aims to provide students with an overview of core health challenges and lines of epidemiological research being undertaken, across a range of infectious and non-communicable diseases.\n\nThe specialisation begins by examining the global distribution of diseases and the major trends that we have seen in the last several decades. Simultaneously, we consider the data that are used to construct such estimates. We then consider the role of social...
3. Health Data 101
An Introduction to Health Data for data analysts...
4. Statistics / Data Analysis in SPSS: Inferential Statistics
Increase Your Data Analytic Skills – Highly Valued And Sought After By Employers...
5. Global Disease Masterclass: Non-communicable Diseases
Welcome to this course on the aetiology, epidemiology and interventions for non-communicable diseases of the Global Diseases Masterclass. We’ve selected four disease areas and will go through each in turn. The diseases we’ve chosen are: Colorectal Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), Dementia, and Diabetes. We have selected these non-communicable diseases because they span a range of different types of disease process and because of the expertise and experience that our School of Public Health...
6. Global Health Policy
In this course, learners will become familiar with principles and theories of global health problems, and major challenges and controversies in improving global population health as well as practical applications of quantitative methods to analyze and interpret issues and challenges for policy. Topics will include health and foreign policy, health governance, acute disease surveillance, non-communicable diseases, burden of disease, universal health coverage, health systems strengthening, health...
7. Statistics / Data Analysis: Survey Data and Likert Scales
How to Process Survey Data and Analyze Likert Scales In SPSS...
8. Fundamentals of Data Analysis for Big Data
This course prepares participants to begin running data analysis on databases...
9. Epidemiology in Public Health Practice
This specialization is intended for people working or aspiring to work in the field of public health at the local, regional, and national level. Over five courses taught by faculty from the preeminent school of public health, you'll learn to use the core epidemiologic toolset to measure the health of populations, assess interventions, collect and analyze data, and investigate outbreaks and epidemics...
10. Introduction to Statistics & Data Analysis in Public Health
Welcome to Introduction to Statistics & Data Analysis in Public Health! This course will teach you the core building blocks of statistical analysis - types of variables, common distributions, hypothesis testing - but, more than that, it will enable you to take a data set you've never seen before, describe its keys features, get to know its strengths and quirks, run some vital basic analyses and then formulate and test hypotheses based on means and proportions. You'll then have a solid grounding...
11. Statistical Data Analysis with SAS
Understanding the Data Flow in SAS: Learn SAS Programming from Data Importing, Management, Manipulation to Data Analysis...
12. Complete Data Wrangling & Data Visualisation With Python
Learn to Preprocess, Wrangle and Visualise Data For Practical Data Science Applications in Python...
13. Health in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
The Center for Humanitarian Emergencies is a partnership between CDC's Emergency Response and Recovery Branch and the Rollins School of Public Health that drives global collaboration, research and evidence based training to improve the lives and well-being of populations impacted by humanitarian emergencies. - Center for Humanitarian Emergencies: http://www.che.emory.edu/ - CDC's Emergency Response and Recovery Branch: http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/errb/index.html This course...
14. Infectious Disease Modelling
Mathematical modelling is increasingly being used to support public health decision-making in the control of infectious diseases. This specialisation aims to introduce some fundamental concepts of mathematical modelling with all modelling conducted in the programming language R - a widely used application today.\n\nThe specialisation will suit you if you have a basic working knowledge of R, but would also like to learn the necessary basic coding skills to write simple mathematical models in...
15. The Data Science Course: Complete Data Science Bootcamp 2023
Complete Data Science Training: Mathematics, Statistics, Python, Advanced Statistics in Python, Machine & Deep Learning...
16. R Programming: Advanced Analytics In R For Data Science
Take Your R & R Studio Skills To The Next Level. Data Analytics, Data Science, Statistical Analysis in Business, GGPlot2...
17. Investigating Epidemics like COVID-19: An Analyst's Guide
Do you want to learn how to detect, identify the cause, and decrease the morbidity and mortality from outbreaks or pandemics like COVID-19? Are you considering a career in public health practice, but aren’t sure how health departments collect and use outbreak data? Are you working in public health, but interested in moving into analytical and/or technical roles or curious how health departments investigate outbreaks? If so, this course is for you. After taking this course you be able to define...
18. Extracellular Vesicles in Health and Disease
This course aims to provide current understanding about extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their role in health and diseases. The EVs are known to be involved in cell to cell communication. Apart from maintaining normal cell physiology, EVs deliver messages that can drive or influence the progression of a disease. This course discusses recent advances made in the field to give an introduction on their function in health as well as in disease.This course includes four modules. Module 1 is an...
19. Data Analysis with Pandas and Python
Analyze data quickly and easily with Python's powerful pandas library! All datasets included --- beginners welcome!...
20. Data Science for Health Research
In Data Science for Health Research, learn to organize and visualize health data using statistical analysis in programs like R. Explore how to translate data, interpret statistical models, and predict outcomes to help make data-informed decisions within the public health field...
Top 10 most affordable universities for epidemiologists
The most affordable schools for epidemiologists are University of Florida, california state university - long beach, and brigham young university.
If the best universities for epidemiologists are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for epidemiologists.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
3. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
4. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
5. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Cost of attendance
25,527
7. California State University - Northridge
Northridge, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,893
Cost of attendance
18,870
8. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
9. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-state tuition
$9,992
Cost of attendance
22,430
10. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for epidemiologists
The hardest universities for epidemiologists to get into are Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University.
Some great schools for epidemiologists are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for epidemiologists based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions rate
5%
SAT average
1,520
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
3. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
4. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,517
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
6. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
7. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
8. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
9. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,456
10. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,506
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for epidemiologists
The easiest schools for epidemiologists to get into are D'Youville College, barry university, and saint joseph's college of maine.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an epidemiologist without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for epidemiologists.
1. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
2. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
3. Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, ME • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,069
4. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
5. Marymount University
Arlington, VA • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,065
6. University of Houston - Downtown
Houston, TX • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
1,012
7. The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,035
8. Dominican University of California
San Rafael, CA • Private
Admissions rate
87%
SAT average
1,126
9. Augusta University
Augusta, GA • Private
Admissions rate
80%
SAT average
1,172
10. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
Average epidemiologist salary by education level
| Epidemiologist education level | Epidemiologist salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $55,665 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $53,416 |
| Doctorate Degree | $61,664 |
Epidemiologist education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025