Is a Bachelor’s in Public Health Worth It?
By Sam MacArthur

When it comes to choosing the best value public health program for your undergraduate education, it’s not all about the money. While cost may pay a significant role in deciding among programs, higher tuition does not necessarily translate into a better program, and vice versa. What is important is the full scope of return on investment for a BS in Public Health. The cost of the degree is only a small part of the equation; you have to also consider your career potential, and the salary you can make – not to mention your satisfaction and sense of value.

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Is Public Health a Good Career?

Bachelor’s in public health jobs are numerous and the public health field itself is full of potential. Public health deals with promoting health and healthiness, in all its forms, for communities, groups, and even globally.

In this way, bachelor’s in public health jobs can represent virtually anything that promotes health in any way. While that can seem like a broad definition, there are certainly many jobs specifically geared towards carriers of a BS of Public Health.

Some BS in Public Health jobs can include:

  • Clinical research
  • Health educator
  • Healthcare consultant
  • Infection control officer
  • Nutritionist
  • Public health administrator jobs
  • Public health officer
  • Social worker

Of course, the CDC hires more public health graduates than anyone. In addition, there are several specialties within the public health field that can lead to further career paths. Some of those specialties include:

More fields exist besides. Each of these fields comes with a plethora of job and career opportunities. For example, a job seeker can go into the child health field and narrow down further to dealing with breastfeeding or some other specific aspect of dealing with infants.

Or, an applicant can seek to become a health administrator for an environmental health agency. Some public health administrator jobs may require additional education (including an MPH), but public health salary with just a BS in Public Health is still good no matter what.

What is a Bachelor’s in Public Health Salary?

Is public health a good career option for salary seekers? Public health salary potential is excellent for BS in public health jobs. Generally, the career path chosen will dictate the salary median.

Since public health is such a broad field, a public health salary can vary widely for BS in public health jobs, from 30k to 60k depending on the field and position. Some bachelor of science in public health jobs can give a public health salary even higher.

For example, a health educator or community health worker can have a median salary of $41k or around $21/hour. By contrast, median salary for medical and health services managers sits at over $98k or $47/hour. Public health administrator jobs can pay executive-level salaries as you climb the ladder. Some popular, growing, and in-demand positions for public health degree holders include:

Is public health a good career choice? Yes, it is, the BS in public health jobs are plentiful and fulfilling. A career seeker would do well to not focus strictly on public health bachelor degree salary.

A public health salary will always look good as the field is only growing. More important to the applicant is finding a niche or path that gives them the most fulfillment within this field.

What’s the Return On Investment for a Public Health Degree?

Public health worker jobs offer many career paths and opportunities. Because of the flexibility of the degree and field, applicants can expect a tremendous return on investment for their efforts to obtain their degree. Public health bachelor degree jobs come with great public health salary potential, but a career is about more than just the salary.

Still, a bachelor of science in public health salary can continue to grow as a job seeker on a career path continues to take the efforts to advance with their chosen career. Additionally, bachelor of science in public health jobs open opportunities in other fields should an applicant choose to pursue something not directly connected to health.

For example, an entrepreneur who wants to pursue a career adjacent to public health and its many sectors can use their degree to set up administration services or other business endeavors that service one of the many public health fields. So is public health a good career? That depends on you, but these possibilities make a bachelor’s in public health worth it.