Public Health Sciences
Be a driving force behind solutions to today’s most pressing public health issues.
Infectious disease pandemics and substance abuse disorders. Chronic disease and food insecurity. Healthy aging, reproductive health, and environmental advocacy. These types of topics and efforts to improve public health lie at the heart of what we do at UMass Amherst’s School of Public Health and Health Sciences.
As a BS in Public Health Sciences student you’ll be a part of those initiatives. You’ll study across disciplines from community health education to health policy and management, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, and biostatistics, drawing connections between them. And you’ll work with award-winning faculty who are leading forces in improving public health around the world.
We offer numerous opportunities for community-based internships and experience in clinical and outreach programs that promote quality of life in diverse populations while building skills in:
- Health equity and access
- Health care system analysis
- Public health communications and advocacy
Explore our programs
Undergraduate
UMass Amherst ranked 9th best college to major in public health in USA Today’s College Guide
First-generation students
Underrepresented minorities
Benefits list
Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs
Public health majors have the opportunity to participate in study abroad programs led by world-class UMass faculty. Their courses focus on topics relevant to global health, and students participate in practical public health experiences, all while immersing themselves in a new culture and country.
Small Class Sizes, Close-Knit Community
Our low student-to-faculty ratio offers public health sciences students individual contact and hands-on training with leading scientific experts partnering with the CDC, NIH, and WHO.
Interdisciplinary Coursework
Draw connections between public health disciplines with core courses ranging from anatomy and physiology to ecosystems and biodiversity, gender, sexuality, and culture to the sociology of immigration.
CEPH Accreditation
Every program in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences is fully accredited by the Council of Education for Public Health, a key benefit of attending UMass Amherst.
Alumni spotlight
In the spotlight
“I find public health to be the ideal intersection of medicine and activism. Public health addresses social factors like race and economic status as large contributors to the health of individuals. Public health as a field tries to address health inequities and discrepancies in treatment of individuals, and I want to help do that as well.”
Featured faculty
Gloria DiFulvio
Senior Lecturer in Community Health Education
Co-Director, Center for Program Evaluation
Focus on substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention, adolescent health, LGBT health, evaluation.
Laura Vandenberg
Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
Focus on endocrine disruptors, hazard assessment, developmental biology, endocrinology
Daniel Gerber
Focus on community health, partnership, adult learning.
Sarah Goff
Chair, Department of Health Promotion and Policy
Focus on maternal-child health care quality; organizational behavior; communication in health care; implementation science; health care equity.
Cassandra Spracklen
Focus on genetic epidemiology; genetics of cardiometabolic traits; reproductive and perinatal epidemiology; life course epidemiology
In the news
SPHHS Students Named 2024 CRF Undergraduate Student Research Award Winners
The Center for Research on Families has selected six SPHHS undergraduate students among its twenty-two 2024 undergraduate student research award winners.
Academic Advising Teams to Present at National Academic Advising Association Conference
Two teams of academic advisors will be giving presentations at the upcoming National Academic Advising Association’s region 1 conference being held in February.
Gorton '77 Publishes Novel Centered on Early Days of Hazardous Waste Industry
Public health alumnus Peter J. Gorton '77 has published his second novel, Eggshells of Eagles.
Public Health Sciences
Building the foundations for careers in public health and clinical professions.