Public Health, B.S.
Visit the Public Health page for more information on the program and access to advising.
Program Description
The Bachelor of Science in Public Health prepares students to serve as effective and competent public health professionals. Public health graduates are equipped with knowledge to help individuals, families, and communities improve and maintain healthy lifestyles. Students will be prepared to assess, plan, implement, manage, and evaluate public health programs. The curriculum provides a solid foundation in health behavior theory, data collection and analysis, social determinants of health, communication and marketing, policy and advocacy, and ethics. Students will be prepared to sit for the Certified Health Education Specialist exam. Public health professionals work in government, private, and nonprofit sectors. Employment settings include healthcare facilities, hospitals, state and local health departments, businesses, worksite wellness programs, schools, universities, and a variety of nonprofit organizations.
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Total Credit Hours | 120 | |
| General Education Requirements | 30 Credits | |
| ENGL 1010 | Introduction to Academic Writing | 3 |
| or ENGH 1005 | Literacies and Composition Across Contexts | |
| ENGL 2010 | Intermediate Academic Writing | 3 |
| Complete one of the following: | 3 | |
| College Algebra (4) | ||
| College Algebra with Preliminaries (5) | ||
| Introduction to Statistics (3) | ||
| Introduction to Statistics with Algebra (5) | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 3 | |
| US History to 1877 and US History since 1877 (6) | ||
| American History (3) | ||
| US Economic History (3) | ||
| American Heritage (3) | ||
| American National Government (3) | ||
| Distribution Courses: | ||
| Physical Science | 3 | |
| Biological Science | 3 | |
| Personal, Professional, and Civic Growth | 3 | |
| Humanities Distribution | 3 | |
| Fine Arts Distribution | 3 | |
| Social/Behavioral Science | 3 | |
| Discipline Core Requirements | 49 Credits | |
| HLTH 1100 | Personal Health and Wellness | 3 |
| HLTH 3200 | Principles of Community Health | 3 |
| HLTH 3260 | Health Behavior Theory and Practice | 3 |
| HLSC 3400 | Human Diseases | 3 |
| HLTH 3450 | Public Health and the Environment | 3 |
| HLTH 3500G | International Health | 3 |
| or HLTH 4400G | Health and Diversity | |
| HLTH 3600 | Social Marketing | 3 |
| HLTH 3700 | Grant Writing for Public Health | 3 |
| or HLTH 4600 | Research Methods for Public Health | |
| HLTH 3750 | Biostatistics for Public Health | 3 |
| HLTH 3800 | Epidemiology | 3 |
| HLTH 4140 | Assessment and Program Development | 3 |
| HLTH 4160 | Program Implementation and Evaluation | 3 |
| HLTH 4300 | Health Ethics | 3 |
| HLSC 4250 | Health Organization and Policy | 3 |
| HLTH 4950 | Senior Capstone | 1 |
| Take 3 credits from one or a combination of the following | 3 | |
| Health Internship (1-6) | ||
| Public Health Special Project (undefined) | ||
| Take one of the following: | 3 | |
| Medical Terminology and Functional Anatomy (undefined) | ||
| Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology (3) | ||
| Human Anatomy and Human Anatomy Laboratory (4) | ||
| Core Electives | 12 Credits | |
| Public Health Lower Division Electives – Choose 6 credits | 6 | |
| Public Mental Health (3) | ||
| Body Image and Mindful Eating (3) | ||
| New Media in Public Health (3) | ||
| Womens Health Issues (undefined) | ||
| Special Topics in Public Health (3) | ||
| Public Health Upper Division Electives-Choose 6 credits | 6 | |
| Health Concepts of Death and Dying (3) | ||
| Health Promotion for Older Adults (3) | ||
| CHES Preparation (3) | ||
| Special Topics in Public Health (1-3) | ||
| Community Nutrition (3) | ||
| Additional Elective Courses | 29 Credits | |
| Any course 1000 or higher (may include courses counting toward a minor) | 29 | |
Graduation Requirements
The following is required for graduation:
- Completion of a minimum of 120 semester credits with a minimum of 40 upper-division credits. A minimum of at least 10 hours earned in the last 45 hours must be earned at UVU.
- Residency hours: Minimum of 30 credit hours through course attendance at UVU, with at least 10 hours earned in the last 45 hours.
-
An overall GPA of 2.5 or higher.
-
A combined GPA of 2.75 or higher for all discipline core requirements with no discipline core course falling below a C-.
- Completion of GE and specified departmental requirements.
- Successful completion of at least one Global/Intercultural course.
- Successful completion of at least two Writing Enriched (WE) courses.
Graduation Plan
This graduation plan is a sample plan and is intended to be a guide. Your specific plan may differ based on your Math and English placement and/or transfer credits applied. You are encouraged to meet with an advisor and set up an individualized graduation plan in Wolverine Track.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 | Credit Hours | |
| ENGL 1010 or ENGH 1005 | Introduction to Academic Writing or Literacies and Composition Across Contexts | 3 |
| HLTH 1100 | Personal Health and Wellness | 3 |
| American Institution Distribution | 3 | |
| Fine Arts Distribution | 3 | |
| Physical Science Distribution | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 2 | ||
| ENGL 2010 | Intermediate Academic Writing | 3 |
| Complete one of the following: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Statistics | ||
| Introduction to Statistics with Algebra | ||
| College Algebra | ||
| College Algebra with Preliminaries | ||
| Social Science | 3 | |
| Lower Division Health Elective - Take 6 credits | 6 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Semester 3 | ||
| HLTH 3200 | Principles of Community Health | 3 |
| Biological Science | 3 | |
| Humanities Distribution | 3 | |
| Personal, Professional, and Civic Growth | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 4 | ||
| Take one of the following: | 3 | |
| Medical Terminology and Functional Anatomy | ||
| Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology | ||
| Human Anatomy and Human Anatomy Laboratory | ||
| Upper Division Health Electives - Take 3 credits | 3 | |
| Unrestricted electives | 8 | |
| Credit Hours | 14 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Semester 5 | ||
| HLTH 3260 | Health Behavior Theory and Practice | 3 |
| HLSC 3400 | Human Diseases | 3 |
| HLTH 3450 | Public Health and the Environment | 3 |
| HLTH 4140 | Assessment and Program Development | 3 |
| Unrestricted electives | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 6 | ||
| HLTH 3700 or HLTH 4600 | Grant Writing for Public Health or Research Methods for Public Health | 3 |
| HLTH 3800 | Epidemiology | 3 |
| HLTH 4160 | Program Implementation and Evaluation | 3 |
| Unrestricted electives | 6 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Semester 7 | ||
| HLTH 3500G or HLTH 4400G | International Health or Health and Diversity | 3 |
| HLTH 3750 | Biostatistics for Public Health | 3 |
| HLSC 4250 | Health Organization and Policy | 3 |
| HLTH 4300 | Health Ethics | 3 |
| Unrestrictive Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 8 | ||
| HLTH 3600 | Social Marketing | 3 |
| HLTH 4820R | Health Internship | 3 |
| HLTH 4950 | Senior Capstone | 1 |
| Upper division HLTH Electives. Complete 3 credits. | 3 | |
| Elective | 6 | |
| Credit Hours | 16 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 120 | |
An online graduation plan offers students a flexible yet structured approach to their academic journey. While this sample serves as a general guideline, individual plans may differ based on Math and English placement scores. Meeting with an academic advisor is strongly recommended to customize plans and ensure all graduation requirements are met.
Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are Certified Online Courses, meeting UVU’s high standards for quality and accessibility.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 | Credit Hours | |
| ENGL 1010 or ENGH 1005 |
Introduction to Academic Writing * or Literacies and Composition Across Contexts |
3 |
| HLTH 1100 | Personal Health and Wellness * | 3 |
| American Institutions | 3 | |
| Fine Arts | 3 | |
| Physical Science | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 2 | ||
| ENGL 2010 | Intermediate Academic Writing * | 3 |
| MATH 1050 or MATH 1055 |
College Algebra * or College Algebra with Preliminaries |
4 |
| Social Science | 3 | |
| Health Elective | 6 | |
| Credit Hours | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Semester 3 | ||
| HLTH 3200 | Principles of Community Health * | 3 |
| Biological Science | 3 | |
| Humanities | 3 | |
| Personal, Professional, and Civic Growth | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 4 | ||
| HLSC 1300 | Medical Terminology and Functional Anatomy * | 3 |
| Upper Division Health Elective | 3 | |
| Electives | 8 | |
| Credit Hours | 14 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Semester 5 | ||
| HLTH 3260 | Health Behavior Theory and Practice * | 3 |
| HLSC 3400 | Human Diseases * | 3 |
| HLTH 3450 | Public Health and the Environment * | 3 |
| HLTH 4140 | Assessment and Program Development * | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 6 | ||
| HLTH 3700 or HLTH 4600 |
Grant Writing for Public Health * or Research Methods for Public Health |
3 |
| HLTH 3800 | Epidemiology * | 3 |
| HLTH 4160 | Program Implementation and Evaluation * | 3 |
| Electives | 6 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Semester 7 | ||
| HLTH 3500G or HLTH 4400G |
International Health * or Health and Diversity |
3 |
| HLTH 3750 | Biostatistics for Public Health * | 3 |
| HLSC 4250 | Health Organization and Policy * | 3 |
| HLTH 4300 | Health Ethics * | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 8 | ||
| HLTH 3600 | Social Marketing * | 3 |
| HLTH 4820R | Health Internship | 1-6 |
| HLTH 4950 | Senior Capstone * | 1 |
| Upper Division Health Elective | 3 | |
| Electives | 6 | |
| Credit Hours | 14-19 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 119-124 | |
Program Learning Outcomes
- Communicate public health information, in both oral and written forms and through a variety of media, to diverse audiences.
- Locate, use, evaluate, and synthesize public health information.
- Assess individual and community needs at the entry level.
- Plan health education strategies, interventions and programs at the entry level.
- Implement health education strategies, interventions, and programs at the entry level.
- Conduct evaluations related to health education at the entry level.
Medical and health services managers
- Total Positions562,700
- Field Growth28.5%
- Median Salary$110,680
- Average Openings61.4
Health education specialists
- Total Positions62,100
- Field Growth7.0%
- Median Salary$62,860
- Average Openings6.7
Community health workers
- Total Positions63,400
- Field Growth13.1%
- Median Salary$48,200
- Average Openings7.5
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary
- Total Positions284,200
- Field Growth18.8%
- Median Salary$105,650
- Average Openings28.4