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The folks over at the startup 2u Inc. (formerly known as 2Tor) had another new program to announce today: George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services is offering a web-based Master of Public health online via 2U.

The program will be called MPH@GW. Classes start May 2013.

That’s the 7th program launch for 2u, which has a business strategy of helping existing well-known brick and mortar colleges take graduate-level degree programs online. That model is slowly gaining steam as 2U and other players run a good deal of the back-end marketing and infrastructure work for online programs to traditional colleges. Some ratings agencies and higher education experts suggest this is one of the factors hurting for-profit colleges, which tend to offer online degrees that are less selective of applicants, cost roughly as much in tuition and carry less weight as university or degree brands in the business world.

“Offering an online MPH allows us to go global and go digital and is the most innovative way to broaden the mission of SPHHS and make a public health education available to people around the world,” said Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MPH, MS, dean of SPHHS, who said the school has been planning the launch for two years.

The program at GW will used a blended model of online learning and customized field experiences as students meet weekly with classmates and professors at designated times in a virtual classroom for courses discussions and group work. Students can attend commencement ceremonies at the GW campus in Washington DC. 

“Use of this innovative technological platform delivers a transformative and creative educational experience that allows faculty to interact with students in ways that would have been impossible just a few years ago,” said Julie DeLoia, Ph.D., associate dean for academic affairs at SPHHS.

For more information, visit publichealthonline.gwu.edu.

About the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services: http://sphhs.gwu.edu/

About 2U, Inc.: 2U, Inc., formerly known as 2tor, Inc.

In other news, 2u is planning an announcement later this week about a consortium that several of its partner universities are creating. Provosts of Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Washington U. in St. Louis and 2u Co-founder and CEO Chip Paucek are scheduled to be on a call. They plan to discuss “a first-of-its kind online program for students through a new consortium of more than 10 leading colleges and universities,” the group said. We will listen in and update you on the news.