The BA program is for students who have an interest in the social sciences and public health. BA students will complete additional required course work in the social sciences and humanities. Click here for a BA sample plan of study. The BS program is for students interested in the natural sciences and public health. BS students will complete additional required course work in the natural sciences and mathematics. Click here for a BS sample plan of study with a General Chemistry start or here for a BS plan of study with a Principles of Chemistry start.

For additional information about our degrees and certificates for undergraduates, please see the CPH section of the General Catalog.

	Bachelor of Arts (BA)	Bachelors of Science (BS)
Total Credits for Degree	120	120
Total Major Credits for Degree	62	62
Public Health Core Credits	27	27
BA or BS specific credits	21	25-26
Public Health Elective Credits	13-15	10-12
Total General Education Credits	35-45	35-45
Experiential Learning Requirement	Yes	Yes
Minimum GPA to Graduate	2.0	2.0
Honors in the Major Available	Yes	Yes

University of Iowa students are eligible to apply for standard admission to the public health major after they complete prerequisite courses and earn the required grade-point average, typically after their first year. All students who wish to apply, including students who wish to enter the public health major through the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences public health interest designation must complete the following requirements by the end of the semester in which they are applying. Admission is for the fall and spring semesters.

• Completion of at least 12 s.h. at the University of Iowa;
• A minimum g.p.a. of 2.75 in all University of Iowa course work and in all college course work.

PUBLIC HEALTH MAJOR DEGREE REQUIREMENTS (approximately 60 s.h.)

• Public health core courses
• BA or BS courses
• Public health elective courses
• Experiential learning requirement

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS (35-45 s.h.)

GENERAL UI ELECTIVES

• UI (non-major) coursework to bring the semester hour total to 120 s.h. by time of graduation

All public health majors take the same set of core courses. The courses below are for students entering the university beginning fall 2019. Students who entered the university before fall 2019 can review the course requirements by searching for previous general catalogs at the Iowa Digital Library.

CPH:1050 College of Public Health Direct Admit Seminar	1 s.h.
CPH:1400 Fundamentals of Public Health	3 s.h.
CPH:1600 Public Health Science: Inquiry and Investigation in Public Health	3 s.h.
CPH:1800 Social and Psychological Determinants of Health	3 s.h.
CPH:2050 Second-year Undergraduate Public Health Seminar	1 s.h.
CPH:2400 The US Health System in a Global Context	3 s.h.
CPH:2600 Introduction to Public Health Methods	3 s.h.
CPH:3050 Third-year Undergraduate Public Health Seminar	1 s.h.
CPH:3400 Health, Work, and the Environment	3 s.h.
CPH:3500 Global Public Health	3 s.h.
CPH:3700 Methods for Program Implementation and Evaluation	3 s.h.
CPH:4999 Public Health Capstone: Practice of Evidence-Based Public Health	3 s.h.

In addition to the public health core and elective courses, BA students in public health also take the following courses. The courses below are for students entering the university beginning fall 2019. Students who entered the university before fall 2019 can review the course requirements by searching for previous general catalogs at the Iowa Digital Library.

CPH:3100 Health Economics	3 s.h.
CPH:3600:0001 Applied Public Health Methods (BA)	3 s.h.
CPH:3800 Public Health Theories and Society	3 s.h.
CPH:3900 Foundations in Public Health Preparedness and Response	3 s.h.
Choose one:BIOL:1140 Human BiologyBIOL:1141 Introductory Animal BiologyBIOL:1411 Foundations of Biology	4 s.h.
Choose one:ANTH:2100 Contemporary World ProblemsANTH:2164 Culture, Health, and Healing for Future Health ProfessionalsCOMM:1809 Social Marketing CampaignsGEOG:3110 Geography of HealthGEOG:4770 Environmental JusticeIS:2000 Introduction to International StudiesJMC:3116 Media and Global CulturesJMC:3150 Media and HealthPHIL:2402 Introduction to EthicsPOLI:3111 American Public PolicySOC:1022 Social Justice and Social Welfare in USSOC:2810 Social Inequality	3 s.h.

In addition to the public health core and elective courses, BS students in public health also take the following courses. The courses below are for students entering the university beginning fall 2019. Students who entered the university before fall 2019 can review the course requirements at the General Catalog archive.

CHEM:1110 Principles of Chemistry I	4 s.h.
BIOL:1411 Foundations of Biology	4 s.h.
BIOL:1412 Diversity of Form and Function	4 s.h.
Choose one: MATH:1460 Calculus for the Biological Sciences (4 s.h.) MATH:1850 Calculus I (4 s.h.)	4 s.h
Choose one: CS:1110 Introduction to Computer Science (3 s.h.) CS:1210 Computer Science I: Fundamentals (4 s.h.)	3-4 s.h.
CPH:3600:0002 Applied Public Health Methods (BS)	3 s.h.

BA students must complete at least five elective courses in the College of Public Health.

BS students must complete at least four elective courses in the College of Public Health.

Below is a list of all currently available public health elective courses.

CPH:2200	Climageddon: Climate Change and Health	2
CPH:2220	Building a Healthier Tomorrow: Public Health Methods to Minimize Disease and Pollutant Exposures	3
CPH:2230	Finding Patient Zero: The Exploration of Infectious Disease Transmission and Pandemic Threats	3
CPH:3200	Death at Work: Case Studies of Workplace Safety and Health	3
CPH:3210	Nutrition in Public Health	3
CPH:3220	Public Health as a Public Good: Economics and Decision Making in Public Health Systems	3
CPH:3230	Human Genetics and Public Health	3
CPH:3240	Global Health Today	1
CPH:4200	Agriculture, Food Systems & Sustain	3
CPH:4210	Making a Difference: Public Health Policy and Advocacy	3
CPH:4220	Global Road Safety	3
CPH:4230	Injury and Violence Prevention	3
CPH:4250	Field Experiences in Public Health	1

All College of Public Health undergraduate students must successfully complete at least one of these experiences—research, internship, global learning, or service learning course. Students must follow the specific criteria and procedures established for the selected experience as outlined by the Undergraduate Program Office. Second Year Undergraduate Public Health Seminar (CPH:2050) is highly recommended prior to enrollment in any of these courses. More information about the experiential learning requirement can be found here.

The College of Public Health’s general education requirements are different from the general education requirements of other UI Colleges, including the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences:

RHET:1030	Rhetoric	4
ENGL:1200	The Interpretation of Literature	3
World Languages	0-10
Natural Sciences	7
Quantitative or Formal Reasoning	3
Social Sciences	3
Historical Perspectives	3
Diversity and Inclusion	3
International and Global Issues	3
Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts	3
Values and Culture	3

College of Public Health students may complete the World Languages requirement using one of three options. One year of high school language study is generally equivalent to one semester of college language study.

Option one: attain fourth-level proficiency in a single world language, usually by completing four years of that language in high school or four semesters in college or an equivalent combination of high school and college course work; or pass an achievement test or evaluation at fourth-level proficiency.

Option two: Attain second-level proficiency in each of two world languages, usually by completing two years of each language in high school or two semesters of each language in college or an equivalent combination of high school and college course work; or pass achievement tests and/or evaluations at second-level proficiency in each language. Option two does not fulfill the World Languages requirement for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or qualify students to earn credit under the Furthering Language Incentive Program (FLIP).

Option three: Attain second-level proficiency in a single world language, usually by completing two years of that language in high school or two semesters of that language in college plus one 3 s.h course from the GE CLAS core in International and Global Issues, Values and Culture, or Diversity and Inclusion.

Students may count courses taken to fulfill General Education Program requirements toward other degree requirements.

Combined undergraduate to graduate programs provide an opportunity for students interested in public health to earn both their undergraduate and graduate degrees in 5 years.

Benefits of pursuing the combined degrees:

• Allows students to further explore their interest in the field of public health
• Expedites time to degree—5 years vs. the typical 6 years
• Saves money by cutting one year of tuition

Visit www.public-health.uiowa.edu/degree-programs/ for more information about our undergrad-to-grad degree options.

Special note for public health majors: Public health majors intending to pursue the Undergrad to Grad (U2G) combined degree program in public health must complete 120 s.h. of which up to 15 s.h. may be graduate credit by the end of Year 4. Specifically, public health majors must complete all of the following requirements in addition to the 15 s.h. of graduate coursework:

PUBLIC HEALTH MAJOR DEGREE REQUIREMENTS (approximately 60 s.h.)

• Public health core courses
• BA or BS courses
• Public health elective courses
• Experiential learning requirement
• General education courses

GENERAL UI ELECTIVES

• UI (non-major) coursework to bring the semester hour total to 120 s.h. by end of Year 4
• Could include up to 12 s.h. of graduate public health courses taken as a undergraduate student

Graduate courses taken during the fourth year will NOT count toward major requirements (including public health electives) for the undergraduate public health major; however, these semester hours could count as general elective credits needed to reach 120 s.h. for a bachelor’s degree at the University of Iowa.

Please see our Certificate in Public Health page.