Skip to content

Public Health - Global Health

School of Public Health

Public Health is a school-wide liberal arts major, leading to a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science, which uses public health questions, concepts, and tools to help students develop competencies in assessment and measurement, communication, environment, ethics and social justice, natural science, population health, policy and politics, and social science with particular emphasis on collaboration and critical thinking across these domains. Graduates move on to a range of career and educational options in business, economics, education, health sciences, law, public health, and social and behavioral sciences.

Major category: Capacity-constrained

Curricular options: B.A., B.S.

Topic(s): Health

website
Degree requirements

Applicant type

Applicant type

Freshmen can apply to the UW to begin autumn quarter or winter quarter (U.S. applicants only)

Read more about applying to the UW as a freshman, including details for programs that provide high school students with college credit (like Running Start).

Public Health-Global Health is a capacity-constrained major. An additional application is required after you enroll at the UW, and admission may be competitive. Visit the department website for more information.

Quarters of general admission to UW: autumn / winter (U.S. applicants only) / spring / summer

Preparation for the major is a factor in transfer admission.

  • Use the information below to help you prepare for this degree
  • Visit MyPlan to run a degree audit.
  • Use the UW Equivalency Guide to find out how courses taken at a Washington state community or technical college will transfer to the UW.
  • UW college and school graduation requirements

Department admission information

Departmental application deadline: First Friday of spring quarter for autumn admission; third Friday of autumn quarter for winter admission
Please contact the department for details about the application process.

This major is capacity-constrained. Completion of prerequisites does not guarantee admission.
  • Minimum 60 college credits
  • Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA
  • Minimum of 2.0 in one 5-credit course of English composition
  • Minimum of 2.5 in one introductory public health course
  • Minimum of 2.5 in one introductory science course (BA applicants)
  • Minimum of 2.5 grade in at least two courses of a year long sequence of introductory science with labs or mathematics. (BS applicants)

For more information about admission to Public Health-Global Health, visit the department’s website.

Read more about applying to the UW as a transfer student.

Courses required for the major:

Applicants must complete the following by the department application deadline:

  • One introductory public health course from the following list: ENV H 111, ENV H 205, EPI 201, EPI 220, G H 101, HSERV 100, NUTR 200, PHG 200 or one 5-credit course from ANTH, GEOG, POL S, PSYCH or SOC.
  • For Bachelor of Arts (BA) students, one introductory science from the following list: BIOL 118, BIOL 180, CHEM 120, CHEM 142, CHEM 145, MICROM 301/302.
  • For Bachelor of Science (BS) students, at least two courses of a single year-long sequence of introductory science with labs or mathematics chosen from biology (BIOL 180, 200, 220); chemistry (CHEM 142, 152, 162); organic chemistry (CHEM 237, 238, 239, 241, 242); physics (PHYS 114/117, PHYS 116/119 or PHYS 121,122,123); or mathematics (MATH 124, 125, 126).

Entering transfer information:

Total undergraduates: 458
Total from Washington community colleges: 45

Entering transfer GPA (from WA community colleges):

3.75 – 4.00: 11
3.50 – 3.74: 10
3.25 – 3.49: 8
3.00 – 3.24: 10
2.75 – 2.99: <5
2.50 – 2.74: <5
2.49 and below: <5

Career outcomes


See list of all majors