Officials have announced the new major of Public Health, which kicks off in fall 2025 and is open to the Class of 2029.

The major of  brings together a variety of health sciences coursework and has some overlap with the Medical Health Humanities major.   

Talk of starting this major started just prior to the pandemic and resurfaced over a year ago. Since then, faculty have come together to create a curriculum that will effectively prepare students for the skills that they will need to succeed. 

Joseph Curran, Chair of the Religious Studies department  and and a faculty member who helped in developing this major, said the major is necessarily interdisciplinary.  Curran was previously the Director of the Medical and Health Humanities major and thus became involved with curriculum development.

The new major program is interdisciplinary with “sociological aspects, math and science, and policy, and also a little bit of humanities like geography and history,” said Curran. Classes include Biostatistics, Environmental Health, and Epidemiology. Additionally, majors are required to take Basic Statistics 1 and 2 along with a Qualitative Research course, which will prepare students to conduct research and interpret statistics to present various findings. Classes like these will provide a well-rounded education of the world of public health, organizers said.

There are not many public health programs in Northeastern, PA. Additionally, the University already offers a minor in public health, and making it into a major will likely bring in more  students. However, with this major being so new, few students are enrolled, but organizers expect the program will grow.  

A graduate will have many opportunities as faculty say they can either go straight into the workforce or pursue a master’s degree in public health. They can work in public agencies, the private sector, or advance their knowledge in continuing education. Examples of jobs that one can obtain with a degree in this field are physicists, medical and health services managers, and epidemiologists. There is an expected need for more public health-related job openings in the near future, creating a solid job outlook for graduates, organizers say. 

Currently, there is a Public Health Pre-Doctor of Physical Therapy program that is waiting for approval, which would provide students with direct entry to the physical therapy program.