COVID-19 UPDATE: In line with CU Boulder policy due to the COVID-19 pandemic response, any public health class listed below with a Pass/Fail grading option during spring 2020 semester will count towards certificate completion.
Public health spans multiple disciplines and fields of study. Therefore, the structure of the undergraduate certificate in Public Health is designed to be flexible to accommodate diverse student interests.
General Requirements
The certificate requires a minimum of 22 credit hours for completion of the program of which 9 credits must be upper division. Students are responsible for identifying and completing course prerequisites prior to enrolling in certificate courses. A grade of C- or better is required for all courses applied towards the certificate. Degree seeking students must also complete all requirements for their respective majors as well as their College core curriculum. Up to 3 credits obtained through Education Abroad Programs approved by CU Boulder may count towards the certificate elective requirements.
Biological Sciences: (Lower division) - 3 credits
Students participating in the certificate program must have a foundation of biological knowledge in order to understand and appreciate the concepts of health and disease. Students must take at least one of the following biological sciences courses:
- EBIO 1100 (3) Biology and Society
- EBIO 1210 (3) General Biology 1
- MCDB 1030 (3) Introduction to Molecular Biology
- MCDB 1150 (3) Intro to Cellular and Molecular Biology
- CHEN 2810 (3) Biology for Engineers
Statistics: (Lower/upper division) - 3 credits
To participate in the certificate program, students must possess basic skills in quantitative reasoning to critically evaluate primary literature and understand how data are used to measure population health and disease burden, monitor intervention and screening programs and inform policy decisions. Students must take at least one of the following courses in statistics:
- ANTH 4000 (4) Quantitative Methods in Anthropology
- BCOR 1025 (3) Statistical Analysis in Business
- CHEN 3010 (3) Applied Data Analysis
- CVEN 3227 (3) Probability, Statistics and Decision
- EBIO 1010 (4) Intro to Quantitative Thinking for Biologists
- EBIO 4410 (4) Biological Statistics
- ECON 3818 (4) Intro to Statistics with Computer Applications
- GEOG 3023 (4) Statistics for Geography
- IPHY 3280 (4) Intro to Data Science and Biostatistics
- MATH 2510 (3) Intro to Statistics
- PSCI 2075 (3) Quantitative Research Methods
- PSYC 2111 (4) Psychological Science I: Statistics
- SOCY 2061 (3) Intro to Social Statistics
- STAT 2600 (3) Intro to Data Science
Introduction to Public Health (Lower division) - 3 credits
We are introducing the Foundations in Public Health course in the 2022/2023 academic year, a new introductory course in public health that will form one of the core courses of the undergraduate certificate in Public Health. This is not required for students who will graduate between Fall 2022 and Summer 2024, but will be required for the certificate for students graduating in Fall 2024 and beyond. For students graduating before Fall 2024 who would like to have this course count towards their certificate, it only counts for a lower division elective not an upper division elective. This course is required for students graduating in Fall 2024 or later.
- GEOG 2692/IPHY 2692 (3): Foundations in Public Health
Core Courses (Upper division) - 7 credits
Collectively, the core courses of the undergraduate certificate in Public Health will provide a foundational knowledge on the burden and distribution of disease and mortality around the world, the determinants of global health disparities, the development of global health policies, and the outcomes of global health interventions. Additionally, students will examine the history and uses of epidemiology, measures of disease frequency and occurrence, association and causality, analytic epidemiology, evidence-based screening and infectious disease outbreak investigations. Students must take both of the following courses:
- GEOG 3692 (4) Introduction to Global Public Health
- IPHY 3490 (3) Introduction to Epidemiology
Elective Courses - 6 credits (at least 3 credits must be upper division)
Students are required to take at least one public health elective course outside of their major department. For double majors, it is only required that you take elective courses offered through two different departments (i.e. courses are not required to be outside both majors). Up to 3 credits obtained through Education Abroad Programs approved by CU Boulder may count towards the certificate elective requirements. NOTE: This list will continue to expand as new courses become available.