Program: Public Health, BS - Purdue University (2024)

About the Program

The Public Health major prepares students to plan, implement, and evaluate public health programs for individuals, groups, and populations in a variety of settings that include worksites, hospitals, and communities. As healthcare costs continue to rise in the United States, training a highly skilled public health workforce is becoming a much greater priority. Courses in this major introduce students to the five core public health competency areas (Behavioral Social Sciences, Biostatistics, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, and Health Policy and Management). Students have the flexibility to customize their course selections to match their particular interests in the field of public health. An internship in a clinical, community, worksite, or government public health setting is part of the curriculum.

Department of Public Health

Public Health Major Change (CODO) Requirements

Degree Requirements

120 Credits Required

Departmental/Program Major Course Requirements (36 credits)

• PUBH 10001 - Introduction To Public Health
• PUBH 23000 - Community, Culture And Social Justice From A Public Health Perspective
• PUBH 24000 - Global Health
• PUBH 32000 - Health Behavior And Health Promotion
• PUBH 32500 - Methods Of Health Promotion And Education
• PUBH 36500 - Public Health Research Methods
• PUBH 38000 - Public Health Policy
• PUBH 40500 - Principles Of Epidemiology
• PUBH 48000 - Internship For Public Health
• Public Health Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00 (select from list)

Other Departmental/Program Course Requirements (60-65 credits)

• BIOL 20300 - Human Anatomy And Physiology (satisfies Science for core)
• BIOL 20400 - Human Anatomy And Physiology (satisfies Science for core)
• CHM 11100 - General Chemistry
• CHM 11200 - General Chemistry
• COM 11400 - Fundamentals Of Speech Communication (satisfies Oral Communication for core) or
• COM 21700 - Science Writing And Presentation (satisfies Oral Communication for core)
• COM 37800 - Introduction To Health Communication or
• COM 47800 - Health Communication Campaigns
• CS 17600 - Data Engineering In Python
• ENGL 10600 - First-Year Composition (satisfies Written Communication and Information Literacy for core) or
• ENGL 10800 - Accelerated First-Year Composition (satisfies Written Communication and Information Literacy for core)
• ENGL 42000 - Business Writing or
• ENGL 42100 - Technical Writing or
• ENGL 42201 - Writing For The Health And Human Sciences
• HSCI 20200 - Essentials Of Environmental, Occupational, And Radiological Health Sciences or
• HSCI 34500 - Introduction To Occupational And Environmental Health Sciences
• MA 15300 - College Algebra or
• MA 15800 - Precalculus - Functions And Trigonometry or
• MA 16010 - Applied Calculus I or
• MA 16020 - Applied Calculus II or
• MA 16100 - Plane Analytic Geometry And Calculus I
• PSY 12000 - Elementary Psychology (satisfies Human Cultures: Behavioral & Social Sciences for core)
• SOC 10000 - Introductory Sociology
• STAT 30100 - Elementary Statistical Methods or
• STAT 35000 - Introduction To Statistics
• Other Language 10100 (satisfies Human Cultures: Humanities for core) - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Other Language 10200 (total of 6 credits - must be from one language) - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Culture & Diversity Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Ethics Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Social Determinants of Health Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Science, Technology & Society Selective - select from PUBH Core Science, Technology, & Society list;- Credit Hours: 1.00-3.00

Electives (19-24 credits)

Supplemental Lists

Public Health Supplemental Information

Grade Requirements

• “C-” or better required in all PUBH courses.

GPA Requirements

• 2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Science degree.

Course Requirements and Notes

• Double-counting policy - Double-counting courses are allowed if the course is listed on multiple selective lists.
• Study Abroad Course for Culture & Diversity Selective can be used upon approval of PUBH department.

Pass/No Pass Policy

• A student may elect the Pass / Not-Pass grading option for elective courses only, unless an academic unit requires that a specific departmental course/s be taken Pass / Not-Pass. Students may elect to take University Core Curriculum courses Pass / Not-Pass; however, some major Plans of Study require courses that also fulfill UCC foundational outcomes. In such cases, students may not elect the Pass / Not-Pass option. A maximum of 24 credits of elective courses under the Pass / Not-pass grading option can be used toward graduation requirements. For further information, students should refer to the College of Health and Human Sciences Pass / Not-Pass Policy.

Transfer Credit Policy

• Transfer credit can be applied to the major if it is equivalent to the major requirements.
• Undistributed credits may be applied to elective credits required in the major.

University Requirements

Sample 4-Year Plan

Pre-Requisite Information

For pre-requisite information, click here.

World Language Courses

World Language proficiency requirements vary byprogram. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor. (ASL-American Sign Language; ARAB-Arabic; CHNS-Chinese; FR-French; GER-German; GREK-Greek(Ancient); HEBR-Hebrew(Biblical); HEBR-Hebrew(Modern); ITAL-Italian; JPNS-Japenese; KOR-Korean; LATN-Latin; PTGS=Portuguese; RUSS-Russian; SPAN-Spanish)

Critical Course

The ♦course is considered critical.

In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major. Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful. These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program”.

Disclaimer

The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements.

Consultation with an advisor may result in an altered plan customized for an individual student.

The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.