Insight

The Department of Public Health and Health Services Administration offers two different Bachelor of Science degrees. Our degrees offer a great foundation and prepare students for jobs. The health field continues to grow in exciting ways and offers many opportunities for graduates. Some of our graduates chose to pursue additional education such as a master’s degree in public health, health services administration, nursing, physician assistant, occupational therapy, and the list goes on. Both the public health degree and health services administration degree are nationally accredited.

Experience

Our department prides itself on our excellent, hands-on teaching with a curriculum that prepares students to acknowledge and address the structural issues that affect our health and health care delivery system.

The public health degree includes classes that provide students many opportunities to work in the community and apply material taught in class to real-life situations. Students are taught how to promote health and prevent disease at both individual and community levels. Courses provide many opportunities to practice these skills in settings such as local schools and nonprofit agencies. 

The health services administration major teaches business skills for health care settings. The program does an outstanding job incorporating real-world situations into coursework. 

Both degrees require internships, which are completed during the final semester. The goal of the internship is to offer students a high-quality, professional experience that complements their academic knowledge and skills as well as prepares students for the workforce.

We have excellent teachers who bring applied experience into the classroom. In addition to teaching, many of our instructors work at hospitals, clinics, health departments, nonprofit organizations, or other health-related agencies. Other instructors work in the field with specialized populations such as the homeless, food insecure, people with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and LGTBQ+ populations. All of our instructors bring their experiences at work into the classroom.

Outlook

Our alumni get jobs! The health field continues to grow at a rate above many other fields. 

One of the most exciting things about a degree in public health is the wide range of jobs available. Some of our grads go on to work on a special topic such as sexuality education, tobacco prevention, mental health, or infectious disease. This work can be done in as many different types of organizations—from nonprofits, to hospitals, to county or state health departments. 

Graduates from the health services administration work in a variety of settings including hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing or assisted living, emergency services, as well as in the medical device and pharmaceuticals industries. The projected job growth for health services administrators in the U.S. is 32% compared to the growth for all occupations which is 7.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In California, the average salary for health service administrators is $138,030.

Programs

Undergraduate

Bachelor's

Minors

See Course Description Symbols and Terms for an explanation of course description terminology and symbols, the course numbering system, and course credit units.

---

Public Health and Health Services Administration Department

The Faculty

Emeritus Faculty