Is the ILE the same thing as a capstone?

Students hear "ILE," "capstone," "culminating experience," and "thesis" used almost interchangeably, and it's confusing. The simplest way to sort it out is to separate the requirement from the format.

The ILE is the requirement

CEPH, which accredits MPH programs, expects every student to complete an Integrative Learning Experience near the end of the degree. Its purpose is to show that you can bring together competencies from across the program and apply them to a public health problem. CEPH describes what the experience must demonstrate, but individual programs decide how students do it.

A capstone is one way to meet it

Many programs satisfy the ILE through a capstone course or project. Others use a thesis, a practice-based project paper, an essay-based comprehensive exam, or a paper built on the practicum. Whatever the format, CEPH requires a high-quality written product; a poster alone doesn't qualify. Some programs use the word "capstone" for a separate course that exists alongside the ILE. That's why two students at different schools can mean very different things by the same word.

What usually differs

When programs do separate the two, the differences tend to fall into a few areas:

• Source of the work: some ILEs must build on your practicum; some capstones are standalone projects
• Product: a paper, a presentation, a poster, a client deliverable, or a mix
• Evaluation: a faculty advisor alone, a committee, or a site partner as well
• Competencies addressed: the number of foundational and concentration competencies you must show

How to find out what yours is

Look for your program's ILE guidelines or culminating experience handbook, then confirm with your faculty advisor. Ask directly whether your practicum work can feed into it, what the final product is, and who evaluates it. The explanation of what CEPH means by synthesis helps once you know the format, because integration is the core expectation either way.

If your program allows it, planning the ILE while your practicum is still underway saves a lot of reconstruction later.