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Bachelor of Science in Public Health

About the program

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) program is based on a philosophy of health promotion and disease prevention, to improve the quality of life of individuals, families, and communities. Graduates of the BSPH program, which is offered at both the College Station and McAllen campuses, will be able to assess factors influencing health in populations as well as plan, design, implement, and successfully manage effective health care programs and interventions. Students in the BSPH program must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in their Texas A&M coursework. Another option for talented undergraduate students is the new 3+2 Program in which undergraduate BSPH majors can earn a combined BSPH/MPH degree through an intensive program in 5 years in one of four concentrations: Epidemiology, Occupational Health, Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences, or Health Policy and Management. The application is now available. Students apply in the spring of their junior year, and the combined program begins fall of their senior year. Students must have a minimum 3.5 overall Texas A&M GPA on a minimum of 30 Texas A&M credit hours at the time of application.

Public health professionals with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) are prepared to:

  • assess factors influencing health in individuals, communities and populations
  • plan effective programs and interventions
  • design evaluations for those interventions
  • successfully manage the implementation of those programs

The BSPH program is based on a philosophy of health promotion and disease prevention, to improve the quality of life of individuals, families and communities.

The BSPH discipline focuses on four areas:

  1. the multiple determinants of health, including biological, environmental, sociocultural, health service, and economic factors,
  2. identification of scientific data, tools of informatics, and other information for identifying indicators of health status and health disparities and assessing the well-being of a community,
  3. addressing the major local, national, and global health challenges, and
  4. designing public health approaches and interventions that improve health outcomes, population health and well-being.

Cost of Attendence

For a better understanding of your total cost of attendance (COA), please visit our cost and tuition rates webpage (https://aggie.tamu.edu/billing-and-payments/cost-and-tuition-rates). This webpage will provide you with an opportunity to review estimated COA information for undergraduate, graduate and professional students, as well as other resources such as the tuition calculator and billing and fee explanations.

Why Public Health?

Need

There is currently a critical shortage of trained public health professionals that has been documented over the past decade. The Association of Schools of Public Health reported that the ratio of trained public health workers has declined from 220/100,000 in 1980 to 158/100,000 in year 2000. To return to the 1980 level approximately 250,000 new professionals will be needed over the current projected graduation rates.

In Texas, a survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers, local health departments, and state health and human service agencies completed in 2009 found vacancy rates as high as 8 percent for epidemiologists and environmental health workers, 10 percent for health educators, and 22 percent for public health technicians; the agencies desired an additional 134 FTEs over their vacancies for those four categories.

Workforce Needs

To date, undergraduates with educational grounding in public health principles and practices have been relatively rare. But, undergraduates with classroom training and field experience can be prepared to enter and grow in public health organizations and agencies, appropriately filling the notable part of the workforce gap between an untrained workforce and graduate-degreed professionals.

Why the BSPH?

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree program is more than a means to produce ready public health practitioners. It can complement or enrich a traditional biology-based pre-health degree plan for students intending professional education in medicine, nursing, allied health or other health professions. Notably, the program establishes a specific entry-level baccalaureate degree in the public health academic pathway which, until recently, has started with a master's degree.

Student Demand

Student demand is reflected in the growth of undergraduate public health programs nationally.
  • Between 2003 and 2007, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in public health doubled, increasing from 1,322 to 2,639.
  • By 2005-2006 approximately half the schools and graduate programs of public health were offering undergraduate courses, minors or majors.
  • By 2008, among all four-year institutions, about one in every six was offering a major, minor or concentration in public health or a similar field.

Current and anticipated public health workforce gaps require not just a replacement, but a recalibration of the workforce. In order to meet the more complex challenges and opportunities they face, agencies need workers with new and different skills and a broader background that includes health information technology and informatics, cultural competence, global health, communication, policy, community participatory research and disaster preparedness, as well as skill in the core functions of public health practice.

Application Requirements

ApplyTexas Application

Applicants wishing to submit an application to the BSPH degree program will apply through ApplyTexas.

Detailed information on freshman and transfer application submissions can be found on the Texas A&M Office of Admissions website.

Change of Major and Transfer Applicants

Change of Major

With the recent administrative reorganization under Texas A&M’s Path Forward, Allied Health and Community Health have been merged with Public Health.  Students will change major into Public Health and follow the Public Health curriculum.

This information is for current Texas A&M University–College Station campus students.

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) program will accept changes of major according to Texas A&M University policy, but restricts changes of major according to the criteria listed below. In addition, the dean or designate must verify availability of resources necessary to insure the student’s full-time enrollment in required courses prior to admission to the BSPH. If such resources are not available, admission will be denied.
 
Students at Texas A&M University wishing to change their major after beginning in another college or department must meet the following requirements for the change to be considered:

  • Minimum Texas A&M GPA of 2.75 and above
  • Completion of four of the five required courses in core Mathematics and Science categories:
    • MATH 140 (or equivalent) preferred - 3 hours
    • MATH 142 (or equivalent) preferred – 3 hours
      • Not accepted MATH 150, MATH 135, MATH 136
    • BIOL 111 - 4 hours
    • BIOL 112 - 4 hours
    • CHEM 119 - 4 hours
  • 90 attempted credit hours or fewer (credits attempted at any institution)
  • 15 hours completed at Texas A&M University

Howdy portal change of major is NOT required. Students initiate change of major during walk-in advising hours. 

Please check in at the front desk in Suite 154 in the Reynolds Medical Sciences Building.

Transfer Applicants

Applicants using the Apply Texas application portal as transfer applicants to the BSPH degree program must meet the following requirements to be considered for transfer:

  • Complete the Texas A&M Core Curriculum with grades of C or better.
  • Achieve a minimum GPA of 2.75. All transcript coursework will be considered in the GPA calculation.
  • Have completed at least 42 college credit hours that includes core and Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) courses. See below for CBK details.
  • Transfer Course Sheet for course requirements