Find top-ranked online bachelor’s in public health degree programs for students wanting to earn positions as health education specialists, emergency response planners, public health advocates, infectious disease specialists, and disaster preparedness coordinators.
When the world faced a health crisis, political and community leaders around the world turned to the public health department for possible recommendations. When the infection and death rates started to pile up, public health officials stepped in, together with epidemiologists, infectious disease experts, and virologists.
A career in public health has many potential pathways, ranging from epidemiologists to educators, and can include medical and health professionals, health program coordinators, public policymakers, and many more. The online bachelor’s program in public health is foundational to prepare students who are qualified to work in the field.
Principles of Epidemiology: Epidemiology is the science behind studying diseases. In this introductory course in public health, you will receive lectures and training in common tools used in the industry, along with the different methods for managing public health incidents and concerns.
Ethical and Legal Considerations in Public Health: This course examines the role of public health policy in ethical decision-making. Real-world samples and case studies are explored to show how much impact a policy can make on various types of communities.
Statistics for Public Health Professionals: Public health professionals should be adept at analyzing and visualizing data. In this course, you are taught about statistical best practices to apply in public health responses and leadership. Students gain data-driven decision-making and research skills, both crucial skills a public health professional should have.
Health Promotion and Education, and Health Communications: This course focuses on preparing students for health education careers, as well as teaching the public about a healthy way of life. Students will also learn the best ways to communicate with vulnerable populations.
Social and Behavioral Health: This course examines different contributions of behavioral and social sciences to community health behaviors. Students will strongly focus on policy decisions and the contributing factors to the health landscape, including principles of class, culture, race, and gender.
Biostatisticians: These professionals create studies that assess major factors like drug effectiveness, as well as the causes of particular diseases. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said mathematicians and statisticians have a median salary of more than $96,000, although this will vary for biostatisticians who work for the pharmaceutical industry, public health groups, or hospitals.
Computer and Information Systems Manager: For students who have the talent and passion for computer information systems, they can turn this into a lucrative career and become computer and information systems managers that make over six figures each year. In the public health field, these professionals manage crucial information and documents while ensuring the information remains available for stakeholders like doctors, patients, and research teams.
Emergency Management Directors: These public health degree graduates are those that handle disaster responses at the state or local level. Some emergency management directors even work for larger hospital systems and research facilities.
Medical and Health Services Managers: These important managers create, oversee, and implement policies for healthcare centers, hospitals, and research facilities. Medical and health services management jobs are said to grow up to 28% over the next decade, which quadruples the average growth rate for all other occupations during this period.
Health and Safety Engineers: These engineers are responsible for designing and maintaining systems that help protect and maintain the safety and health of their clients.
The undergraduate online programs acquaint students with topics such as environmental health sciences, epidemiology, social and behavioral sciences, federal, state, and local health policy, and biostatistics.
Students benefit from field placements or internships and earn real-world experience working in a public health agency or department under the reign of a working professional in the field.
Earning a bachelor’s degree in public health opens the door for leadership roles in the health profession. A public health career focuses on areas like policy, health promotion, infectious diseases, and access to healthcare.
Back to TopThis 120-credit degree typically requires a minimum of four years for completion.
Back to TopMost programs prepare students to sit for the national certification exam to become a certified health education specialist (CHES). Though classes vary depending on individual programs, example courses include Introduction to Epidemiology, Healthcare in the U.S., Public Health Nutrition, and Field Work in Public Health.
Back to TopAfter program completion, graduates can earn positions as health education specialists, emergency response planners, public health advocates, infectious disease specialists, and disaster preparedness coordinators.
Back to TopLearn more about how to major in medicine.
The list features the best online bachelor’s programs in public health. This directory expands a school’s program course, program accreditation, length, admission requirements, and estimated cost.
While the ranking focuses on first-time students, the list is also applicable for a variety of student groups like transfer students. Most programs are accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.
For those looking for financial aid options, make sure you submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) documents to check whether you are qualified for grants and loans.
Like most students, the scholarships each institution offer play a huge role in the final decision when choosing the best school for them. While there are so many scholarships offered in most schools, students should also check that the online bachelor in public health program of their choice has a state reciprocity agreement with their home state.
The following graph depicts the average salaries of Health Education Specialists for each percentile in the U.S.
Source: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
SVG Attribution: Wikipedia
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
73%
Student body
34K
Median SAT/ACT
1225/26
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
78%
Student body
33K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/28
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
73%
Student body
26K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/26
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
72%
Student body
35K
Median SAT/ACT
1200/27
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
64%
Student body
40K
Median SAT/ACT
1220/25
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
95%
Graduation
54%
Student body
8K
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
58%
Student body
17K
Median SAT/ACT
1070/22
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
99%
Graduation
45%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1145/21
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
57%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/21
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
52%
Student body
13K
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
49%
Student body
19K
Median SAT/ACT
1065/21
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
72%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1205/24
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
54%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1120/23
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
54%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1037/20
Student body
5K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
47%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
910/19
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
59%
Student body
25K
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
84%
Graduation
30%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1025/19
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
98%
Graduation
54%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/20
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
23%
Student body
9K
Tuition + fees
$28K
Acceptance
61%
Graduation
77%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/25
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
97%
Graduation
59%
Student body
2K
Tuition + fees
$15K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
39%
Student body
102K
Tuition + fees
$6K
Acceptance
53%
Graduation
52%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1145/24
Tuition + fees
$21K
Graduation
38%
Student body
2K
If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require a time of adjustment. Although you’ll typically learn the same material and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, going online will require greater independence and responsibility than going in person. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, for harnessing the online educational technology that you’ll need to use, and for completing the course requirements, such as listening to lectures, learning lessons, reading texts, and handing in assignments. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take the initiative in building relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.
No. The only part of online education that’s easier than campus-based education is ease of access: all you need is a computer and an internet connection for online education. But even this seeming advantage of online education can be misleading: what’s easier, studying online with your computer and internet connection from your home where you need to cook, clean, pay rent, and maintain a job? Or studying on campus in a dorm where all your living needs are handled by the school, and college staff are there to help you every step of the way?
If you take the commute to campus out of the equation, campus-based education is easier. All the support structures available on campus for students, especially with real people to help you in person, are not there online. The demands on you as an online student will largely be the same as for your campus-based counterpart, but without the same helps.
In general, your online courses will present the same material and test you in the same way as traditional in-person courses. In many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning with remote educational technology for the first time, online college may be considerably more challenging than campus-based college. For a few insights on how to manage this new online experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.
Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable non-profit institutions on the one end and less-than-reputable for-profit institutions on the other end. Accreditation gives you the power to identify the more reputable actors in online education. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency indicating that a college or university is meeting standards of quality and credibility. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.
Attending a college or university that is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. For students seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that they opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree. For more on this important topic, check out our What is Accreditation and Why Does It Matter? College & University Accreditation Guide.
As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited (see the previous point), you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer of credits. In many cases, you will encounter some bureaucratic haggling in which some of your credits will be transferred and others may be refused. However, provided that you have attended an online school with recognized regional accreditation, you should be in good shape in transferring your credits earned online.
In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript, or resumé differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.
Some employers may express the concern that because you did your degree online, you may need to transition from an online education experience to in-person workplace experience. But in an age of Covid, that concern seems much diminished. The fact is that much employment these days is remote. And collaboration increasingly happens online over Zoom. Many employers will therefore view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.
If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will be less than ideal for you (though depending on your circumstances, it may also be the only viable option).
While there is much in traditional campus-based education that can be substituted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing that can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual in-person classroom setting. As you transition to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face in getting the most out of your online classes is overcoming this difference between “real reality” and “virtual reality.” Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.
The advantages of online classes are many. Above all, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete at your own pace and on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.
Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.