Environmental Health

Address current and emerging public health challenges by obtaining the knowledge and skills you need to create change in our world.

From improving the air we breathe and the water we drink, to understanding and preventing disease, to evaluating current health programs and policies and promoting new ones—there is no shortage of complex public health challenges in today’s ever-changing world.

Whether you are an experienced health professional with an advanced degree or you are looking to pursue public health straight out of your undergraduate study, our program can be personalized to your academic and career interests.

Through our multidisciplinary approach, you will study:

• Environmental contamination and degradation by both human activity and natural processes
• How this contamination and degradation impacts health directly and through complex interrelationships with other living organisms and ecosystems.

The program can be completed in four semesters of full-time attendance or up to eight semesters of part-time attendance.

Your program will consist of courses addressing the five areas of knowledge basic to public health, required and elective concentration courses, a field training experience and an integrative project.

Concentration Courses

All courses are 3 credit hours unless otherwise indicated.

Required Courses--30 credits

• CHB 501 Study of Health Behavior
• EEH 501 Principles of Epidemiology (4 credits)
  Must be completed in the first semester
• EEH 505 Application to Biostatistics to Epidemiology I (4 credits)
  Must be completed in the first semester
• EEH 520 Biological Basis of Public Health
• EEH 530 Introduction to Health Care Organization
• EEH 531 Administrative Theory and Practice for Public Health Practitioners
• EEH 550 Environmental Health
• EEH 551 Advanced Environmental Health Sciences
• EEH 590 Public Health Seminar (0 credits)
  Required for two academic years (four semesters)
• PMY 626 Toxicology Principles and Practice (2 credits)
• PMY 627 Toxicology at Target Organs (2 credits)

Elective Courses--9 credits

Select three courses from the list below.

• CIE 563 Air Pollution
• CIE 569 Hazardous Waste Management
• EEH 521 Global Health
• EEH 544 MPH Field Training
  Additional 3 credits beyond the required 3 credits listed below
• EEH 575 Epidemiologic Applications of Environmental Health
• GEO 506 Geographical Information Systems (4 credits)
• URP 604 Community Food Systems Planning
• URP 605 Built Environment and Health

Students can petition to take courses outside their concentration area or at the PhD level if the course is relevant to their future career plans and they obtain permission of the course instructor and the director of graduate studies.

• A bachelor’s degree
• A GPA of 3.0 or above
• Minimum GRE scores in the 50th percentile for each category
• English proficiency as demonstrated by one of the following:
  • Minimum TOEFL scores of 600 for the paper-based test; 250 for the computer-based test or 100 for the Internet-based test
  • Minimum IELTS score of 7.5
  • Cambridge English Advanced (CAE) Minimum scoring on Old Scoring Scale 65 Overall, 185 overall on New Scoring Scale
  • Cambridge English Proficiency (CPE) Minimum scoring on Old Scoring Scale 60 Overall, 185 overall on New Scoring Scale
• The following are highly recommended:
  • One general biology course
  • One health related science course (e.g., nutrition, anatomy, microbiology, or physiology)
  • One college level mathematics course (e.g., calculus or statistics; calculus is preferred for students concentrating in epidemiology; and at least two years of high school algebra)
  • One year of college level chemistry
  • Two courses in behavioral sciences, including a course in sociology or social psychology, and a course in subjects such as anthropology, psychology, political science or economics
  • A basic computing course

The financial aid process for graduate and professional degree students is similar to that of an undergraduate student; however post-baccalaureate students also need to be aware of a few additional factors that may influence your financial aid awards.

Types of Aid Available

Federal financial aid options that you may be eligible for include:

• Federal Direct Subsidized & Unsubsidized Loans
• Federal Graduate/Professional PLUS Loans
• Health Profession Student Loans
• Federal Nursing Student Loans
• Federal TEACH Grant

To be eligible for federal financial aid awards you must complete a FAFSA application and indicate that you are seeking a graduate or professional degree.

New York State also offers the following programs for graduate and professional study:

• Economically Disadvantaged First Professional Study (EDPS) Program
• Veterans Tuition Award
• Senator Patricia K. McGee Nursing Faculty Scholarships
• SUNY Graduate Diversity Fellowship
• Graduate Opportunity Program
• Masters-in-Education Teacher Incentive Scholarship