Accessibility of Public Health Knowledge: The Presence of Public Health Courses in General Education Programs at US...

In 2003, the Institute of Medicine released the report Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?, in which the authors recommended that "all undergraduates have access to education in public health." The objective of this study was to explore the current status of that recommendation in public institutions in the United States with schools or programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

We used a systematic qualitative content analysis approach, specifically a manifest analysis strategy, focusing on data that were available, tangible, and observable. To provide a snapshot of public health coursework in the general education curriculum, we reviewed the spring 2023 curriculum posted in online catalogs at US public colleges and universities with CEPH-accredited schools or programs of public health.

Of the 132 institutions represented in the analysis, 100 (75.8%) offered at least 1 public health course in their general education course offerings in the spring 2023 term and 32 (24.2%) offered no public health-related courses. None of the institutions required a public health course to graduate.

The recommendation for all students to have access to public health education in undergraduate programs was a timely and relevant imperative in 2003, and it is increasingly so today. We encourage colleges and universities with schools and programs accredited by CEPH to lead a renewed effort to expand access to public health education for undergraduates in the United States through general education programs.