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 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 advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

PBHL Director: Meng Li, Associate Professor
Office: North Classroom 3018
Telephone: 303-315-7157
Fax: 303-556-8501
Email: Meng.Li@ucdenver.edu

ColoradoSPH Contact: Chloe Bennion, Student Affairs and Academic Operations Director
Office: Fitzsimons Building, Room E-3301
Telephone: 303-724-4745
Email: chloe.bennion@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. The following are exceptions and/or substitutions that are applicable to the BA/BS requirements for students in the BA/BS - MPH program:

5. To facilitate timely completion of the program, students are expected to take 6 credits in each of 2 summers.

6. 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.  

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
The following courses serve dual purpose for these degrees.		9
Take the following Introduction to Public Health Couse. 1
PBHL 2001	Introduction to Public Health	4
Take six credits of graduate level MPH coursework during the undergraduate career. 2		6
PBHL 3001	Introduction to Epidemiology
or EPID 6630	Epidemiology
PBHL 3020	Introduction to Environmental Health
or EHOH 6614	Occupational and Environmental Health
PBHL 3030	Health Policy
or HSMP 6601	Introduction to HSMP
PBHL 4040	Social Determinants of Health
or CBHS 6610	Social and Behavioral Factors and Health
Complete the following graduate level Quantitative Methods Course 3
MATH 5830	Applied Statistics	3

1	Take this undergraduate level course in lieu of PUBH 6600 Foundations in Public Health (2 credit) requirement for MPH program; must substitute 2 credits at graduate level. Other limitations apply.
2	Two graduate-level Public Health classes will fulfill the undergraduate matched required courses and fulfill the requirements for MPH program.
3	Fulfills Quantitative Methods Requirement in the undergraduate degree and counts in lieu of BIOS 6601 Applied Biostatistics I requirement for MPH program.

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