Web-based DE strategies can be successfully used to reach non-traditional students desiring public health education. The Certificate in Core Public Health Concepts Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides 12 graduate-level credit hours in a 100% online environment via 5 courses (biostatistics, health policy, epidemiology, environmental sciences, and health behavior/health education). The program was piloted in 2000 with 158 students enrolling to-date. Of those, we anticipate 52 (33%) to complete the program by 8/2003; 25 (16%) have withdrawn from the program. Although our primary mission is to focus on North Carolina (NC) residents, 25% of students are US-out-of-state and 5% are from abroad.

Although initially targeted to the public health workforce, our program has unexpectedly  reached a broader audience.  Of program enrollees, the average age is 40 years with 26% (n=24) having a terminal degree (MD, PhD, DVM) and seeking lateral training in public health; 16% (n=14) have a master’s degree in some area; while 51% (n=46) intend on seeking further future graduate education in public health.  The average program enrollee has been out of traditional school for more than a decade, which introduces unique challenges as compared to residential programs targeted at younger learners. Significant findings discussed in this session will include sharing data about our program and lessons learned from conducting an online DE public health educational program for non-traditional students and dealing with issues that arise with international participants.