People who work in public health help communities prevent disease and improve health and wellbeing. The two concentrations, Health Sciences and Community Health/Health Promotion, prepare students for a variety of exciting public health careers.

At a Glance

  • Flexibility
    Full Time
  • Delivery Options
    On Campus
  • Degree
    BS

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Public Health: Take the Path to a Rewarding Career

If you’re looking for a fulfilling and meaningful career, the B.S. in Public Health is right for you. As a student, you’ll prepare for careers that promote wellness, prevent diseases and address health disparities on a local, national and global scale. 

Public Health Career Options

Earn a B.S. public health degree and gain the skills and knowledge to thrive as a community health professional, epidemiologist, medical and services manager and many other careers. Some of our students pursue graduate studies in public health and health sciences.

Stefany Campbell at the edge of a road holding a device to measure water samples

UMass Lowell graduates work in a variety of settings, including:

  • Community health centers
  • Local and state public health departments
  • Corporate wellness organizations
  • Nonprofit organizations
  • Long-term care facilities
  • Hospitals
  • Technology sector
  • Academia
More Information on Public Health Careers

Choose a concentration that fits your career goals

Two pairs of hands covered in soapy bubbles from hand washing

With the public health major, you can choose between two concentrations, each leading to a wide range of career opportunities.

  • Community Health/Health Promotion Concentration — Prepare for a career as a community health professional in a variety of settings, including community health centers, hospitals, and public health departments. You’ll learn skills in communication and teaching related to health promotion and disease prevention in community settings. Gain experience with the community health practicum.
  • Health Sciences Concentration — Focus on health sciences with flexibility of selecting courses in an area of your interest within a public health framework. Courses prepare you to work in the field of public health including areas such as epidemiology and disease surveillance. This concentration serves as a pathway to graduate programs in health sciences, including medical school, physician assistant, nursing and other postgraduate professional health programs.  

Courses you'll take

The B.S. in Public Health offers courses that provide a solid foundation in critical thinking, advocacy, leadership, teamwork, research, statistics, biological and life sciences, social and behavioral sciences and communication.

Check out our degree pathways—a suggested four-year schedule—for a possible pathway toward your B.S. in Public Health.

In the final semester, you will participate in a required capstone experience, spending several hours per week in a setting that is associated with your career goals. 

Visit the Academic Catalog to view all Public Health courses and learn about the Public Health minor and Population Health Informatics and Technology minor.

Find all degree pathways, including those from prior enrollment years.

Upon completion of the B.S. degree program in Public Health at UMass Lowell, our graduates will be able to:

  1. Articulate critical public health problems and their causes, including an understanding of the environmental, social, behavioral, and biological factors influencing health. 
  2. Apply the basic concepts of data collection and analysis to health data.
  3. Identify and use evidence-based approaches to address population and community health needs. 
  4. Identify prevention strategies for a range of public health, applying critical analysis and reasoning skills to problem solving. 
  5. Apply the fundamental concepts of program assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation and management in a culturally appropriate fashion. 
  6. Evaluate the economic, historical, ethical, and political/legal contexts of public health problems and solutions and the challenges that practitioners face.
  7. Identify and access resources for researching public health problems and critically evaluate research.
  8. Use the public health-specific tools of communication.

Why study public health at UMass Lowell?

Public Health students at UMass Lowell collect water samples outdoors

Experiential Learning

Gain skills and career connections through learning experiences with our partner organizations, including: 

  • Premier healthcare facilities
  • Laboratories and clinics
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Government agencies
  • Health science industry  


UML Assoc. Teaching Prof. Arlee Dulak shows nursing student Fritza Jeudy a new anatomy model

Health Sciences Hub

Prepare for success in our Health Sciences Hub, a designated space in the Health and Social Sciences building where you can: 

  • Meet with your advisor
  • Get tutoring help
  • Access anatomical models
  • Attend workshops on topics such as nutrition, wellness and mental health
UMass Lowell student Nery Rodriguez reads with a child

Fun Outside the Classroom

Put your learning into practice. Check out some of the fun ways UML students come together.

UMass Lowell student Rabia Haider

Bachelor’s-to-Master's Program

Get on the fast track to an advanced degree with our accelerated bachelor's-to-master's program.

  • Available to juniors and seniors with a grade point average of 3.000 or higher
  • Offers a continuous, coordinated sequence of courses
  • Reduced credit-hour requirements can save you time and money

Meet Our Students

Stacey Nwachukwu seated on a couch
Stacey Nwachukwu ’20, ’22
Public Health

Stacey Nwachukwu is helping communities and influencing policy at the Statehouse.

I want to be at the decision-making table.
Read More About Stacey Nwachukwu 
Cassie Harding chats with Asst. Prof. Angela Wangari Walter
Cassie Harding '15, '17
Public Health

Cassie Harding’s internship experiences as a public health student inspired her to tackle the big health and wellness challenges facing people in the cities and towns around her.

The internships and practicum experiences were invaluable to me and are ultimately what allowed me to apply all the skills I was learning in my academic courses.
Read More About Cassie Harding 
Chandni Shahdev in front of Coburn Hall in UMass Lowell south campus
Chandni Shahdev '20
Public Health – Epidemiology

Her master’s degree in public health and research experiences helped Chandni Shahdev get a job with the CDC Foundation, working with employers to prevent and contain outbreaks of COVID-19.

UMass Lowell stood out. I was really impressed by the research the faculty were doing.
Read More About Chandni Shahdev 
Nicole Haas sits at a table and works at her laptop at Revive Recovery Center in front of a decorated blackboard
Nicole Haas '18, '20
Public Health

Nicole Haas always knew she wanted a career helping people. The Master of Public Health major landed an internship with the Revive Recovery Center and is taking on one of the most challenging public health crises of the last 20 years: the opioid epidemic.

These face-to-face experiences are how I learned so much about the recovery community and how to continue finding ways to help people and prevent fatal outcomes.
Read More About Nicole Haas 

Add a Minor in Population Health Informatics and Technology

Pair the Public Health major with a minor in Population Health Informatics and Technology (PHIT) and gain solid knowledge in IT for solving public health problems. Join one of the fastest-growing fields of Health informatics and develop innovative ways of collecting, storing, analyzing, and sharing public health data.