Frequently Asked Questions

The CU Boulder Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee approved the undergraduate certificate in Public Health in April 2014. The Academic Affairs Advisory Committee approved the certificate program in July 2014.

Introduction to Epidemiology (IPHY 3490) is offered every fall and spring semester. Introduction to Global Public Health (GEOG 3692) is also offered every fall and spring, and in some years, during the summer as well. 

Students in good standing from any department on the CU Boulder campus are welcome to enroll in the Undergraduate Certificate in Public Health. Students will only be required to complete an online enrollment form to be considered for the certificate.

Students who have successfully completed the certificate program will be provided a paper certificate and graduation cord to be worn during graduation ceremonies. Approximately 6-8 weeks following graduation, the public health certificate will be designated on official CU Boulder transcripts. 

Introduction to Epidemiology (IPHY 3490) requires any of the general statistics courses listed in the certificate program requirements. Introduction to Global Public Health (GEOG 3692) does not have any prerequisites. It is assumed that students taking these two courses will have at least 30 credits (i.e. sophomore or above).

Yes. However, we do encourage you to officially enroll in the certificate as that will keep you updated on public health related courses and events on campus.

Yes. Please visit Beyond the Classroom for detailed information on Study Abroad opportunities.

As long as the credits are recognized and approved by CU Boulder's Office of International Education and relevant to public health, then up to 3 credits may be applied towards the elective requirement. If you plan on taking a course that you would like to count towards your certficate, please receive approval from the Public Health Certificate Director before your semester abroad begins.

While experiential education opportunities are strongly encouraged for any student interested in public health, credits obtained through that experience will not count towards the elective requirements.

Transfer credit that satisfies the general biology and introductory statistics requirement may be used as certificate credit. The core and elective course requirement must be satisfied through courses taken on the CU Boulder campus.

No. As long as you have taken approved elective courses from at least two different departments, you have satisfied the elective course requirement.

Public health is interdisciplinary, drawing from diverse fields of study to address the challenges facing community and population health. As a result, students interested in public health come from a variety of different educational backgrounds. The ASPPH offers some general information on traditional Arts & Sciences majors that are linked to specific areas of public health. However, please note that this for informational purposes only and is not intended to restrict students to particular majors. As previously mentioned, individuals who end up in public health have a diverse educational background.

The ASPPH provides a list of graduate schools of public health and public health programs that offer graduate-level training in public health. Graduate degrees range from master's level (i.e. MS, MSPH, MPH) to doctoral level (i.e. PhD, ScD, DrPH) in a variety of public health fields of study depending upon the institution or program. Please visit ASPPH and CU Academic Advising Center for more information about graduate education in public health.

This new requirement varies by graduation date. If you (the student) are graduating in Summer 2024, Spring 2024, or before these dates, GEOG/IPHY 2692 is not a requirement.

If you are gradauting on Fall 2024 and beyond, GEOG/IPHY 2692 is a required course you need to take (and pass with C- or above) in order to be awarded the Public Health Certificate.

We like hearing about new courses that can be applied to the certificate. If you would like for the course to count towards your certificate, please email the certificate director, Colleen Reid (colleen.reid@colorado.edu). You will need a reasoning and the course syllabus.

The degree audit is not programmed in a way that we can add your course exceptions and not effect the degree audit of all students enrolled in the certificate. Rest assured that we do keep very close track of exceptions.