The University of Iowa will offer a bachelor’s degree in public health beginning in fall 2016.

The Board of Regents approved the degree to help meet Iowa’s need for trained public health professionals and to address a national shortage of public health, community health and clinical health workers, and a lack of formal training in the field.

“Health care systems in the United States are experiencing major changes, and these shifts are creating new opportunities and employment prospects for students with population health knowledge and skills,” Sue Curry, dean of the College of Public Health, said in a statement. “We also know that many in the public health workforce are nearing retirement age, so we need to train the next generation of professionals.”

By 2020, the United States will face a shortage of a quarter-million public health workers, according to the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.

UI will offer both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, focusing on biostatistics, social and behavioral sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, and environmental health sciences. 

The Bachelor of Arts track will focus on the community and behavioral aspects of public health for students interested in working in health education, health communication, health program development or public health policy.

The Bachelor of Science track will be geared toward sciences for those who expect to work in a laboratory or want to prepare for advanced education in biostatistics, dentistry, environmental health, epidemiology, medicine, nursing, occupational health, pharmacy or veterinary medicine. Read more