Degree Requirements
Curriculum Overview
Through the Bachelor of Science in Public Health, students build skills in public health focused on matters related to the health of societies locally, nationally, and globally. While students in both the BA and the BS take the same core public health courses, the BS offers students the flexibility to complete required courses in basic and applied sciences, building toward possible careers in epidemiology, environmental health, occupational health or professional programs toward careers as doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other clinical roles.
With a BS in Public Health, graduates can pursue entry-level positions in the public health workforce or graduate school within the health sciences or related fields by building the necessary prerequisite course work into their studies. Those who go on to careers in medicine, nursing, or dentistry (to name a few) will find that the School of Public Health provides a broad foundation in the biological and behavioral sciences, viewed from social ecology and population-based perspectives. Our graduates emerge from the program prepared to tackle health equity and social justice issues.
During their first two years, students complete prerequisite general education course work including introductory courses in public health. Once admitted to the major, students spend their final two years engaging in the major course work sequence as a true community of learners. In addition to the core public health courses, students also work with their advisors to select a complement of courses focused on their professional and/or academic goals. Specific degree requirements are available below.
Undergraduate Student Handbook
Degree Requirements Heading link
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Course listing
- ENGL 160 – Academic Writing I: Writing in Academic and Public Contexts (3 semester hours)
- ENGL 161 – Academic Writing II: Writing for Inquiry and Research (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 100 – Health and the Public (3 semester hours)*
- PUBH 105 – Foundations for Public Health (2 semester hours)**
- PUBH 110 – Public Health and Global Societies (3 semester hours)***
- PUBH 120 – Public Health and the Study of Disease and Epidemics (3 semester hours)
* May be used to satisfy Individual and Society or US Society category below.
**Required for new first year students in the School of Public Health as well as transfer students who enter the School of Public Health with less than 24 credit hours earned. Others may enroll with permission of instructor if space permits.
***May be used to satisfy Individual and Society or World Cultures category below.
General education courses
- Exploring World Cultures course (3 semester hours)
- Understanding U.S. Society course (3 semester hours)
- Understanding the Individual and Society course (3 semester hours)
- Understanding the Past course (3 semester hours)
- Understanding the Creative Arts course (3 semester hours)
- Additional General Education course(s) from any category, as necessary, to total 24 semester hours of General Education (0-2 semester hours)
Some of these courses may be fulfilled by Public Health courses, as noted in the section above.
Students should consult the General Education section of the catalog for a list of approved courses in this category. All students must complete a minimum of 24 semester hours of General Education course work with at least one course from each of the six General Education categories. Courses approved for more than one General Education category may only be applied to one General Education category.
Select one Qualitative Reasoning course:
- STAT 101 – Introduction to Statistics (4 semester hours)
- STAT 130 – Introduction to Statistics for the Life Sciences (4 semester hours)
- MATH 121 – Precalculus Mathematics (5 semester hours)
- MATH 170 – Calculus for the Life Sciences (4 semester hours)
- MATH 180 – Calculus I (4 semester hours)
Note: Fulfillment of the quantitative reasoning requirement may be satisfied through placement exam. STAT 101 or STAT 130 is recommended to fulfill this requirement.
Select one Life Science course with a lab:
- BIOS 110 – Biology of Cells and Organisms (4 semester hours)
- BIOS 120 – Biology of Populations and Communities (4 semester hours)
Free electives
- Free electives to total 60 hours (19-24 semester hours)
If any future selective courses have prerequisites that are not already satisfied by the University and General Education requirements, students are advised to choose free electives that work towards satisfying these requirements.
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Course listing
- PUBH 300 – Critical Thinking in Public Health (4 semester hours)
- PUBH 301 – Critical Thinking in Public Health II (2 semester hours)
- PUBH 310 – Public Health and Global Citizenship (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 320 – Ecologies of Health and Modern Life (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 330 – Health Equity and Health Disparities (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 340 – Health Literacy (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 350 – Health Systems, Health Policy (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 360 – Local Citizenship and Community Health Initiatives (4 semester hours)
- PUBH 370 – Using the Public Health Toolbox (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 395 – Professional Topics Seminar (0 semester hours)
- PUBH 397 – Baccalaureate Project in Public Health (3 semester hours)
- PUBH 410 – Historical and Contemporary Public Health Challenges I (2 semester hours)
- PUBH 411 – Historical and Contemporary Public Health Challenges II (2 semester hours)
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Course listing
- Select from a list of courses within the School of Public Health and across campus representing an array of bench, lab, and applied sciences. Students are highly encouraged to consider PUBH 393 for one of their selective options. PUBH 420 is among the selective options and may be a prerequisite requirement for some other public health courses on the list. (15 semester hours)
- Select elective courses preapproved by the advisor as relevant to the student’s plan of study. (3 semester hours)
- Additional free electives (7 semester hours)
Note: If any of the selective courses have prerequisites that are not already satisfied with the University and General Education Requirements, students are advised to choose free electives that work toward satisfying these prerequisites requirements.