Introduction

Please click here to see Health and Behavioral Sciences department information.
Please click here and here to see the overview of the Public Health undergraduate program.
Please click here to see the overview of the Masters in Public Health graduate program.

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major and graduate advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

PBHL Director: Hyeyoung Oh Nelson, Assistant Professor
Office: North Classroom 3031
Telephone: 303-315-7157
Fax: 303-556-8501
Email: hyeyoung.nelson@ucdenver.edu

Colorado SPH Contact: Madiha Abdel-Maksoud, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs
Email: madiha.abdel-maksoud@cuanschutz.edu

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program.

Declaring This Major

• Click here to go to information about declaring a major.

This 5-year degree program combines the Bachelors of Art/Bachelor of Science (BA/BS) of Public Health (PBHL) and the Master of Public Health (MPH). These degrees are offered, respectively, at the University of Colorado Denver by the Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on the downtown campus, and the Colorado School of Public Health, a joint venture of the University of Colorado, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado. Students will receive both degrees in the program simultaneously at the end of the program.

BA/BS-MPH students may choose any of the MPH concentration areas available across the three campuses. Concentration areas include the five core areas of public health (Biostatistics; Community and Behavioral Health; Environmental and Occupational Health; Epidemiology; and Health Systems, Management and Policy) as well as several other areas such as Maternal and Child Health, Health Communications, Community Health Education, and others.

• To be eligible, students must be declared PBHL majors (BA or BS).
• Ideal candidates will have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and will have completed a minimum of 12 credit hours toward their undergraduate PBHL degree including:

  Course List

  Code	Title	Hours
  Completed with a B+ or higher
  PBHL 2001	Introduction to Public Health	4
  BIOL 2010 & BIOL 2011	Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) and Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio)	4
  BIOL 2020 & BIOL 2021	Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) and Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio)	4

• Complete an application via SOPHAS EXPRESS (Note: GREs are not required). Students should apply by the January preferred deadline in their Sophomore or Junior year.
• Upon application, declare a provisional MPH concentration (Note: some concentrations may establish additional eligibility criteria).

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.

• CU Denver General Graduation Requirements    

• CU Denver Core Curriculum     

• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements   

• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements

1. Undergraduate degree requirements follow either the BA (found here) or BS (found here).
2. Students in this program will be conferred both degrees (BA or BS, and MPH) simultaneously upon completion of all requirements.
3. Each class must be completed with a grade of C- or higher to count towards the major, and students must maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA in the undergraduate major and MPH courses.
4. To facilitate timely completion of the program, students are expected to take six credits in each of two summers.
5. If students apply late to this program, (including having already completed additional PBHL core requirements), they may not be able to benefit from all of the substitution-based time savings, and therefore may not be able to complete the program in 5 years.
6. The following are exceptions and/or substitutions that are applicable to the BA/BS requirements for students in the BA/BS - MPH program:  

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
The following courses serve dual purpose for the PBHL-BA/BS and MPH degrees.
Complete nine credits of graduate level MPH coursework during the undergraduate career. 2		9
BIOS 6601	Applied Biostatistics I (replaces MATH 4830/5830 Applied Statistics)
EPID 6630	Epidemiology (replaces PBHL 3001 Intro to Epidemiology)
EHOH 6614	Occupational and Environmental Health (replaces PBHL 3020 Intro to Environmental Health)

²

Three graduate-level Public Health courses will fulfill the undergraduate matched required courses and fulfill the requirements for MPH program. 

Students need to complete PBHL 4099 Capstone Experience in Public Health prior to enrolling in the MPH program. These three graduate-level Public Health courses can apply as substitutes towards satisfying the pre-requisite for PBHL 4099. 

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.