General Public Health

Types of Degrees General Public Health Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general public health graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	10,873
Bachelor’s Degree	10,064
Graduate Certificate	949
Doctor’s Degree	569
Associate Degree	272
Basic Certificate	48
Undergraduate Certificate	3

What General Public Health Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to general public health were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for General Public Health Majors

General Public Health majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for General Public Health Majors

A major in general public health prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for General Public Health Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a general public health student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a General Public Health Major?

People with a general public health degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Community Health Workers	17.9%	$39,540
Health Educators	14.6%	$54,220
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Medical and Health Services Managers	20.5%	$99,730

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in General Public Health?

The major attracts more women than men. About 81% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of general public health majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,446
Black or African American	1,563
Hispanic or Latino	2,145
White	3,920
International Students	233
Other Races/Ethnicities	757

Geographic Diversity

General Public Health appeals to people across the globe. About 2.3% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do General Public Health Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

General Public Health majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $43,480 to $113,730 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to General Public Health

Some careers associated with general public health require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for general public health careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	2.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.7%
Some College Courses	0.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	25.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.2%
Master’s Degree	16.5%
Doctoral Degree	5.9%
Post-Doctoral Training	4.4%

Online General Public Health Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 446 schools offered some type of general public health program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	6	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	33	6
Bachelor’s Degree	87	29
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	285	78
Post-Master’s	12	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	67	4
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	11	2
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	1

Is a Degree in General Public Health Worth It?

The median salary for a general public health grad is $59,660 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 50% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $395,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to General Public Health

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to general public health.

Major	Number of Grads
Public Health Education and Promotion	4,563
Other Public Health	3,432
Health Services Administration	3,119
Community Health and Preventive Medicine	2,272
International Public Health/International Health	1,599
Environmental Health	1,344
Behavioral Aspects of Health	814
Health/Medical Physics	258
Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene	211
Maternal and Child Health	163
Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality	43

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Article 25 Flickr under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.