MS in Health Policy
Masters of Science in Health Policy
To Our Prospective Students and Trainees:
The Department of Health Policy recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision.
The Department of Health Policy welcomes graduate applications from individuals with a broad range of life experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who would contribute to our community of scholars. The review process is holistic and individualized, considering each applicant’s academic record and accomplishments, letters of recommendation, prior research experience, and admissions essays to understand how an applicant’s life experiences have shaped their past and potential contributions to their field and how they might enrich the learning community at Stanford.
The application for the 2025-2026 academic year will open in the fall of 2024.
Please know the Knight Hennessey applicants have an earlier deadline.
Master's Program Informational Video
Overview
The Master’s Degree in Health Policy provides students with the skills to conduct and interpret research in health policy and clinical decision-making. The program is oriented towards individuals with a clinical background and/or experience in the healthcare field, government service or similar professional activities. Applicants applying to existing joint degree programs at Stanford (e.g. the JD / MS in Health Policy) who are interested in learning health policy techniques in the healthcare setting are also welcome to apply.
The MS program is typically completed in two years. All candidates must satisfactorily complete 45 units of graduate course work with a 3.0 (B) or better, as well as a master’s thesis that represents original health services research. In addition to satisfying the core course requirements, students must take additional courses in one of three concentration areas.
Advisors, Mentors, and Thesis Committees
Academic advising by our faculty is a critical component of our graduate students' education.
All matriculating students will be assigned a faculty advisor from the group of CORE FACULTY to help them design their academic program. Students will remain with this advisor throughout the program unless they, with their advisor's approval, develop other arrangements for advising with our core faculty.
Students should meet with advisors within the first quarter of each year to discuss students' curricular and research plans.
Each student will propose a thesis committee, to be approved by the Program Director, comprised of at least two faculty members associated with the Master's degree program, one of whom must be a core MS Program faculty member, and the second must be either core or affiliated MS Program faculty (see link for program faculty below). The chair of the thesis committee will be the student's primary faculty advisor, and a member of the core faculty. All committee members must read and approve the final thesis. Depending on the topic of the project, additional faculty members may serve as mentors either as a committee member or in a less formal arrangement. Other faculty members may be added to the thesis to serve as "content experts" for projects concerned with specific diseases or medical treatments.
Each student will submit a 1-2 page thesis proposal by the end of the first year in the program. The proposal should describe the research project which will fulfill the requirement for the master’s thesis including identifying the research question and describing the data sources and methods which will be used. For collaborative projects, the student should identify the collaborators and describe in detail his or her role on the project. For projects using secondary data, the student should provide evidence that the data will be available for the proposed research and describe how he or she will access the data. In the proposal, the student should identify the members of the thesis committee.
Funding of Graduate Studies
The department is unable to offer fellowships or scholarships. Prospective students are encouraged to seek funding through:
- Graduate aid at Stanford
- Stanford School of Medicine graduate student funding opportunities
- Knight-Hennessy Scholars (deadline Oct. 11, 2023)
- Other potential external sources are available to applicants
MS Application Process Explained
You can watch the recording of the MS Pre-application Information Session.
