Welcome to the Bachelor of Science in Public Health

All prospective public health majors will want to fill out our Major Contact List Form so you can get important information regarding switching into the public health major. 

Note: All BSPH majors have selective major status. Selective majors are majors with limited enrollment. Students who were not directly admitted into one of the BSPH majors can still complete the public health entry requirement for the desired BSPH major and apply for the major (for transfer students, the only application period is at the end of fall 2026). Please see the public health entry requirement on our website for additional information. 

Discuss required and recommended general education courses with your college. Most first year students will focus on GEs for the first several quarters of their UC San Diego education.  

• Preparatory coursework, if needed: (AWP 3, 4A, or 4B; MATH 2, 3B, 3C, or 4C; CHEM 4, etc.)

  • Do you need to take the Math Placement Exam?

• Pre-Health or concentration-specific preparatory coursework, if needed:

  • All students pursuing the PB26 or PB31 Majors and/or Pre-Health track students should enroll in a Mathematics course this fall.

  • Most students pursuing the PB31 Major and/or Pre-Health track students should enroll in a Chemistry course this fall. 

• College GE Writing Courses: 

  • MMW 11 (ERC), DOC 1 (TMC) and CAT 1 (Sixth) are only offered in the Fall

  • MCWP 40, WCWP 10A, HUM 1, and CCE 1 are also offered in Fall, but may fill and are offered later this year (SYN 1 is offered only in Winter and Spring)

• PH 40. Introduction to Public Health (4 units)

  • Strongly recommended if can fit in FA26 schedule and seats are available.

  • Required for all Public Health Majors and must be taken at UC San Diego.

• Statistics: COGS 14A, PSYC 60, HDS 60, or MATH 11*

  • *MATH 11 is required for Biostatistics (PB26) concentration and requires completion of MATH 10A/B or 20A/B

• A Public Health Lower Division Course

  • PH 90: Living Well-Doing Well (2 units, satisfies part of the PH Elements)

  • PH 91: Topics in Public Health (4 units, satisfies Trending Topics or PH Elements)

• A Lower Division Biology course: BILD 1, BILD 3, or BILD 10**

  • **BILD 10 only counts for the general Public Health major (PB25) 

• Additional College GEs (may include Math, Science, Art, Language, etc.; see your college for details)

• A University requirement (such as DEI or JTCCER) or additional units to meet unit requirements (180 total, 60 UD)

NOTE: All students must be enrolled in at least 12 units (not including waitlisted courses). No student should be enrolled in more than 18 units. We recommend that you enroll in approximately 16 units (four classes) this fall. Lastly, public health strongly recommends no more than two to three science/math/statistics courses in the fall. It is important to diversify your course schedule each quarter.

Discuss General Education/IGETC questions with your college. 

We strongly encourage all transfer students to enroll in four classes this Fall quarter. This helps you make academic progress, but it also provides you the opportunity to drop a class if necessary while staying a full-time student.

Note: If you do not complete PH 40 and a statistics class (if you have not already completed one) this fall quarter, you will not be able to complete the public health major.

The following two courses must be completed by the end of FA26 in order to graduate on time. 

• PH 40: Introduction to Public Health (there is no equivalent course at another institution)

• Statistics: COGS 14A, PSYC 60, HDS 60, or MATH 11*, if not completed at prior institution**
  • *MATH 11 is required for Biostatistics (PB26) concentration and requires completion of MATH 10A/B or 20A/B
  • **If prior institution is not a California Community College with listed equivalents on assist.org, a student must petition their statistics course this summer with psychology or math for equivalency; approval is not guaranteed.

In addition to the recommendations above, you should consider:

• College GEs (discuss specific coursework needed with your college): 
  • Revelle - HUM 100, Calculus, Chemistry, or Physics
  • Muir - MCWP 125
  • TMC - UD Disciplinary Breadth
  • Warren - WCWP 100, UD Non-Contiguous
  • ERC - MMW 121 
  • Sixth - CAT 125
  • Seventh - SYN 100
  • Eighth - CCE 100
    
• A Public Health Lower or Upper Division Elective (UD priority given to SU26 PH 40 students)
  
  • PH 90: Living Well-Doing Well (2 units, satisfies part of the PH Elements)
  • PH 91: Topics in Public Health (4 units, satisfies Trending Topics or PH Elements)
  • PH 161: Clinical Nutrition in Public Health (4 units, satisfies 1 PH Perspective)
  • PH 158R or PH 191 (4 units, satisfies 1 PH Perspective)

• A Lower Division Biology Course: BILD 1, BILD 3, or BILD 10*** (if not already completed)***BILD 10 only counts for the general public health major (PB25) 
• An Upper Division Core class:
  • For students finishing PH 40 in SU26 ONLY: PH 101, PH 102, PH 110, PH 120 (SU26 students will be sent instructions via the VAC and MUST follow them by the deadline)
• A Public Health Elective, Statistical Analysis Core, or Medicine Sciences Electives class
• A University Requirement (such as DEI) or additional units to meet unit requirements (180 total, 60 UD)

NOTE: All students must be enrolled in at least 12 units (not including waitlisted courses).No student should be enrolled in more than 18 units. We recommend that you enroll in approximately 16 units (four classes) this fall. Lastly, public health strongly recommends no more than two to three science/math/statistics courses in the fall. It is important to diversify your course schedule each quarter.