Program Overview

Online Bachelor's Degree in Public Health

The Online Bachelor's Degree in Public Health is designed to develop a deep understanding of how to advance equitable public health solutions and prevent unjust disparities in public health outcomes.

Program Information

• Next Start: August 2026 - Fall Term A
• Program Format: Accelerated 8-week courses, 5 terms year-round
• Course Format: Synchronous and asynchronous courses
• Program Length: 2 years, 60 units
• Cost Per Unit: $500 for Summer, $525 for Fall, with financial aid and scholarships available
• Application Deadline: July 1 for August start

Improve Health Outcomes for Diverse Communities

Public health promotes the health and wellbeing of populations and recognizes that health is a fundamental human right. This field is in demand at employers like the California Department of Public Health, the Healthier Kids Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Stanford University, Sutter Health, and more. The program explores how environmental, social, economic, behavioral, biological, and political factors influence human health.

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the Bachelor's in Public Health must fulfill the general admissions requirements and complete the following courses to be eligible for admission:

• PH 1 - Understanding Your Health
• PH 15 - Human Life Span
• PH 67 - Introductory Health Statistics, or equivalent statistics course

Valuable Learning Experiences

Upon completion of the degree, graduates will be ready to:

• Demonstrate an ability to deliver public health messages in written, oral, and media-based formats to both public and professional audiences.
• Use public health methods and tools to collect and analyze population health data.
• Analyze the effects of multiple levels of policy and health systems on population and individual health outcomes and employ strategies to participate in the policy process.
• Apply principles of social justice, through the lens of cultural humility, to achieve and sustain health equity.

Featured Courses

• Epidemiology: Research population-based risks of infectious and noninfectious diseases and how these risks relate to cause, treatment, and prevention.
• Health Communications: Learn introduction to, and application of, health communication concepts, theories, and principles to specific health topics.
• Health Issues in a Multicultural Society: Interpret and evaluate consumer health issues, researching the impact of cultural variables on health and illness.
• Intro to Health Policy: Examine historical and current policies related to public health, stakeholders in health policy making and advocacy, and health policy frameworks for conducting policy analysis and policy making.
• Public Health Leadership Series: Adopt professional behaviors to use in the classroom, in interactions with faculty and colleagues outside the classroom, and in organizations after graduation.

Career Opportunities

Our graduates work collaboratively with diverse communities to conduct investigations and create relevant interventions that strengthen community capacity, promote health, and reduce health inequities and disparities. Public Health majors in the Bay Area earn an average annual salary of $93,000 and an upper range of $149,000.

Top Job Titles

• Bilingual health education specialist
• Clinical research coordinator
• Community initiatives manager
• Health and benefits consulting analyst
• Mental health associate
• Patient service representative
• People operations
• Student family services manager

Top Companies

• California Department of Public Health
• Carbon Health
• County of Santa Clara
• Healthier Kids Foundation
• Kaiser Permanente
• Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
• Stanford University
• Sutter Health
• University of California, San Francisco

Top Sectors

• Community and social services
• Customer success and support
• Education
• Healthcare services
• Information technology
• Operations
• Program and project management
• Research