Yale University’s Master of Science in Public Health with a Health Informatics concentration prepares students to work with health data, clinical information systems, and computational methods. The two-year, full-time program combines public health foundations with informatics, statistics, data science, and a yearlong capstone.
Quick Facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Institution | Yale University |
| Location | New Haven, Connecticut |
| Degree | MS in Public Health, Health Informatics concentration |
| Program length | Two academic years |
| Course load | 15 course units |
| Format | Campus-based, full-time |
| 2026–27 tuition | $52,400 |
| GRE | Not required |
Program Overview
The Yale School of Public Health Health Informatics program sits at the intersection of health care, information technology, and data science. Students study how health information is collected, managed, analyzed, and applied across clinical care, biomedical research, and public health.
The first year introduces the field and its public health foundations. Second-year work becomes more technical and gives students more opportunities to apply informatics methods. Students complete the program through Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences rather than through the SOPHAS application system.
Curriculum and Capstone
The 2026–2027 Yale catalog requires 15 course units. The plan includes eight required courses, five electives, and a two-course capstone sequence. The summer Public Health Primer and two professional leadership courses do not add course units to the degree total.
Required coursework
- Topics in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
- Introduction to Health Informatics
- Population and Public Health Informatics
- Computational Methods for Informatics
- Clinical Database Management Systems and Ontologies
- Clinical Decision Support or User-Centered Design of Digital Health Tools
- Foundations of Epidemiology and Public Health
- Foundations of Public Health
- Capstone in Health Informatics I and II
Elective options
Students choose at least five electives in informatics, statistics, and data science. Options include machine learning with biomedical data, applied machine learning in healthcare, biomedical natural language processing, electronic health record data science, database systems, artificial intelligence, data visualization, privacy, deep learning, and public health surveillance analysis.
The yearlong capstone gives students a structured setting to define, complete, and present an applied health informatics project. BIS 550 and BIS 560 serve as prerequisites for the capstone sequence.
Admissions
Applicants should typically have undergraduate preparation in health, computer science, mathematics, or statistics. Yale does not require General GRE scores for this concentration. Applicants whose native language is not English must submit TOEFL or IELTS scores unless they qualify for an exemption under Graduate School rules.
Applicants apply through the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. They should select Public Health as the program and Health Informatics as the concentration. Yale states that applicants should not use SOPHAS for this MS.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Yale Graduate School lists full-time tuition of $52,400 for the 2026–2027 academic year, or $26,200 per term. At that published rate, two years would equal about $104,800 in tuition before any annual increase.
The tuition figure excludes living expenses and optional Yale Health hospitalization and specialty coverage, listed at $3,764 for 12 months in 2026–2027. Yale states that most terminal master’s students pay tuition themselves, though some programs may provide limited support. Students can also review external fellowships, loans, and campus employment options.
Online and Part-Time Options
This is a campus-based program in New Haven. Yale states that the degree requires two years of full-time study and does not permit part-time enrollment. The summer Public Health Primer is online, but the degree is not offered as an online master’s program.
Career Preparation
The program can support work that combines health data, information systems, and applied analysis. Relevant career paths may include clinical informatics, public health informatics, health data science, clinical research informatics, decision support, digital health, and biomedical data analysis.
The technical elective list lets students strengthen specific skills in machine learning, natural language processing, databases, privacy, visualization, or electronic health record analysis. The capstone can also help students demonstrate how they apply those skills to a defined health problem.
Who May Find This Program a Good Fit?
Yale may fit students who want an intensive, research-oriented health informatics degree with strong training in public health and data science. It is most suitable for students who can study full time in New Haven and who want flexibility to select advanced technical electives across Yale.
Students who need an online or part-time schedule should compare other programs. Applicants should also weigh Yale’s tuition against the program’s academic depth, elective range, faculty access, and capstone experience.
Related Connecticut Programs
- Charter Oak State College - New Britain
- Quinnipiac University - Hamden
- Sacred Heart University - Fairfield