Science in Public Health

The mission of the Department of Public Health (formerly Health Education) at San Francisco State University is to promote health and health equity at the individual, community, and structural levels through transformative education, research, scholarship and service, all of which value diversity, engage communities and are grounded in cultural humility.

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health is designed to build students’ knowledge and skills in the field of public health and provide a pathway for graduates to enter a range of professions to influence and support the health of communities. Students engage with a curriculum grounded in public health competencies of social determinants of health, epidemiology, health policy, community organizing, health and power inequities, public health programming and practice in the field. They also build skills to support their agency as informed and engaged participants in a democracy; these include, but are not limited to, oral and written communication skills, quantitative, scientific and information literacy, critical thinking, critical consciousness, cultural humility, teamwork, leadership and creative problem solving. This public health foundation prepares students for a broad range of roles and types of jobs where they may use knowledge, skills and values gained from their public health training to address public health challenges of the 21st century and to advocate for and build healthy communities.

Degree Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health is designed to build students’ knowledge and skills in the field of public health and provide a pathway for graduates to enter a range of professions to influence and support the health of communities. Students engage with a curriculum grounded in public health competencies of social determinants of health, epidemiology, health policy, community organizing, health and power inequities, public health programming and practice in the field. They also build skills to support their agency as informed and engaged participants in a democracy; these include, but are not limited to, oral and written communication skills, quantitative, scientific and information literacy, critical thinking, critical consciousness, cultural humility, teamwork, leadership and creative problem solving. This public health foundation prepares students for a broad range of roles and types of jobs where they may use knowledge, skills and values gained from their public health training to address public health challenges of the 21st century and to advocate for and build healthy communities.

Study Reasons

The San Francisco State University Bachelor of Science in Health Education and Master of Public Health in Community Health Education programs are accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).