A new partnership between Brown’s Master of Public Health program and Bryant University will reserve spots for Bryant applicants, give them preferred admissions and offer automatic tuition scholarships if they meet certain application requirements. The program is set to begin this fall.
Students graduating from Bryant need at least a 3.25 GPA and must meet application requirements to receive guaranteed admission, according to the School of Public Health press release. Up to five seats — or up to 10% of the incoming MPH class, whichever is greater — will be reserved for Bryant students, it adds, and Bryant applicants will receive a 35% to 50% scholarship.
The SPH intends for the partnership to bring passionate, talented individuals into public health careers amid changes to the field wrought by a shifting political climate, said Scott Rivkees, acting associate dean for education and a professor of the practice of health services, policy and practice at the SPH.
The idea for the program was partially inspired by a Bryant student who attended Brown’s MPH program, said Kirsten Hokeness PhD’06, director of Bryant’s School of Health and Behavioral Sciences. When reflecting on his time at Brown, the student said he felt the business experience he gained at Bryant provided him with an interesting perspective to bring to the MPH program.
One aim of the program is to foster “that capacity for students when they get into undergrad to see a direct pathway to careers in public health,” she said. Students at Bryant interested in health often do not realize the extent of careers available to them until they participate in research and experiential learning, she added.
Grayson Woodward, a junior at Bryant majoring in health sciences, said that she has broadened her career aspirations since arriving at the university.
“The goal here is to make sure that students who are interested in public health can get the best training that they can at one of the very best schools of public health in the country,” Rivkees said. He emphasized the need for public health field workers to “have the skills and mindset that is needed for public health in 2026 and beyond.”
Amid recent cuts to grants for state and local public health departments from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new partnership between Brown and Bryant is part of the larger effort “to make sure that we have good, talented, enthusiastic individuals going into public health, where they will continue to be able to make a difference for the people in their communities and states,” Rivkees said.
Hokeness said that the partnership also seeks to build on Bryant’s strengths in business, healthcare and growing focus on artificial intelligence. Students at Bryant studying health sciences must minor in business and take a course in applied artificial intelligence in order to graduate.
“At the end of the day, healthcare is a business, and so coming up with solutions has to make sense from a business landscape as well,” Hokeness added.
Woodward believes that since “Bryant is advertised more as a business school,” the university’s science students would “love” the opportunity at Brown.
“Brown is a great school, so having that under your belt is a great gateway,” Hokeness said. “I think a lot of students would take advantage of it.”
