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Public Health & Community Health Education

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Become a leader in public health through our accredited program and help address community health issues like infectious disease and mental health.

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Undergraduate program

Public Health & Community Health Education

Undergrad major

Public and community health professionals work to address the many factors that determine overall health status in the population. From addressing disease outbreaks to promoting clean air to supporting individuals' mental health, public health encompasses all aspects of a population's well-being. Public health is everything, and everything is public health.

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Graduate programs

Healthcare Administration

Graduate degree The online MS in Healthcare Administration offers busy adults a flexible education to advance into leadership roles.
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Public Health Online

Graduate degree Earn your Master of Public Health (MPH) in Community Health Education from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 100% online in just 2 years!
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CEPH accredited seal
The Bachelor of Science in Public Health program at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse is currently accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) as a standalone baccalaureate program (SBP)

Featured courses

  • Health Policy, Advocacy, and Community Organizations
    CHE 400 | 3 credits
    This course focuses on the process of engaging communities in health education and behavior change programs of various kinds. Several organizing paradigms for fostering healthy communities are examined, and their practical and ethical implications are considered. Skill development for community assessment, constituency-building, and leadership of participatory planning efforts is emphasized. Students are paired with health and human services, health policy and social justice agencies, and coalitions to gain an in-depth knowledge of agenda setting, legislative research, and legislative advocacy in relation to specific legislation being proposed in the Wisconsin state legislature. Course will tie policy theory to real-world practice. This course is taught largely at an undergraduate level. Graduate students will have additional course requirements/expectations. Prerequisite: PH 335; PH 340; CHE 360; CHE 370; junior standing. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Implementation, Administration, and Evaluation of Health Education Programs
    CHE 450 | 3 credits
    Students will implement, administer, and evaluate a community health education program. Interventions will be based on professional best practices and social and behavioral theories and models. Data will be collected that allow students to evaluate goals, objectives, and activities. Students will be required to generate a report at the end of the semester that can be used to inform decision makers on the success of the program and can be added to the professional evidence base. Prerequisite: CHE 380, CHE 400. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Introduction to Public Health
    PH 200 | 3 credits
    This course serves as an introduction to the past, present, and future of public health. The course covers multiple issues including analytical methods, biomedical basis of disease, social and behavioral factors, and environmental health. Students examine what those issues are, what determines them, and how they can be addressed. As a survey of the entire field of public health, students explore persistent health disparities, determinants of health, and public health in an era of globalization. Offered Fall, Spring, Summer.
  • Introduction to Global Health
    PH 204 | 3 credits
    This course introduces participants to global health through its history, definition, determinants, and development as a field of study. The inter-connection between health problems in developed and developing countries and the interdisciplinary approach necessary to understand and address health problems and issues will be emphasized. Students will learn about the health status in regions of the world and various populations within those regions, and they will be able to suggest how health indicators are likely to change over time and explain why. They will also develop a basic understanding of the methods used to assess population health, and be able to discuss why some populations are healthier than others and what can be done to reduce health disparities. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Environmental Health
    PH 335 | 3 credits
    This course will examine the interdisciplinary and global impacts of human-environment relationships. Emphasis is placed on the critical nature of our understanding these relationships in order to improve ecosystem health, human health and well-being, global economics and sustainability. Politics, economics, science, technology, human behavior (both individual and collective), history, ethics, and the media are examined for the purpose of improving the quality of life for all people through the creation of a sustainable global society. The science, methods and processes of environmental health will be considered. The role of environmental health in public and population health will be examined. Prerequisite: admission to the public health and community health education major or an environmental studies minor. Offered Fall, Spring.
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Portrait of Kemmesha Thomas

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Kemmesha Thomas

UWL programs, like the McNair Scholars Program, made me realize so many things I’m interested in. I can develop more knowledge and enjoy doing research.

Portrait of Kelsey Shuda

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Kelsey Shuda

Pursuing a major in Public Health & Community Health Education has given me opportunities to advocate and work on policy development at a local and national level. From Eta Sigma Gamma meetings to summits in Washington D.C., I was able to continuously prepare for my future career in public health.

Portrait of Mariah Welke

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Mariah Welke

The education, guidance and support of the Public Health & Community Health Education Program made me into the public health professional I am now. I use the skills I learned in the program (and the grad program) every single day in my job. It's invaluable!

Portrait of Rebecca Shirley

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Rebecca Shirley

Since graduating in 2019, I’ve worked for two Wisconsin health organizations, both stating they hired me because I graduated from the UWL Public Health & Community Health Education Program! When our professors say they have a public health undergraduate program like no other, they are absolutely right.

Portrait of Kitt (Katherine) Drewiske

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Kitt (Katherine) Drewiske

The professors who make up this program are among the most dedicated individuals I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with. Not only do they provide high-quality education, they provide their students with opportunities for applied learning to see how public health works from theory to practice at all levels.

Portrait of Kira Hankins

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Kira Hankins

I truly appreciated how much the Public Health & Community Health Education professors cared about our success in the program and our overall well-being. There was never a moment where I did not feel valued in the program.