Gillings School of Global Public Health

Introduction

The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health provides exceptional teaching, conducts ground-breaking research, and delivers dedicated service to people across North Carolina, throughout the United States, and around the world. Ranked the top public school of public health by U.S. News and World Report for 2024–2025 and second among all public health schools, the school’s mission is to improve public health, promote individual well-being, and eliminate health inequities.

The school, accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, and located in close proximity to UNC–Chapel Hill’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, and pharmacy, offers undergraduate and graduate programs on campus and through state-of-the-art online-education programs. The Michael Hooker Research Center and many renovated laboratories and classrooms provide an environment highly conducive to learning about public health and discovering new ways to improve and promote health worldwide.

Beyond campus, we teach, conduct research, and serve communities across our state and nation and around the world. Our Research, Innovation and Global Solutions Office organizes the school’s global health activities and enables us to anticipate new public health challenges, quickly find solutions, and accelerate the delivery of best practices to improve people’s lives.  The school’s service and outreach arm, the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, brings public health scholarship and practice communities together.

To learn more about the public health field, visit the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. The site defines public health, describes its impact on our lives, and introduces a variety of public health careers.

Admission

The Gillings School of Global Public Health offers four undergraduate majors: biostatistics, environmental health sciences, health policy and management, and nutrition. The undergraduate degree offered is the bachelor of science in public health (B.S.P.H.). Enrollment in the B.S.P.H. degree programs is limited, and students must apply for admission. Students typically apply in January of their sophomore year for admission beginning in the fall of their junior year.

For current UNC–Chapel Hill students, the initial step of B.S.P.H. application is available in ConnectCarolina under the "Apply for Majors Change" tab.  For additional information on application deadlines and how to apply, please visit the Public Health Undergraduate Majors website.

Transfer students interested in any of the B.S.P.H. degree programs must apply through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions using the Transfer Common application.

For high school seniors, our four majors participate in the Assured Enrollment program through Undergraduate Admissions. Assured enrollment programs guarantee students a spot in an undergraduate major within one of Carolina’s professional schools or a spot in an accelerated undergraduate/graduate program. For additional information, please visit Undergraduate Admissions: Special Opportunities.

Students are subject to the requirements in place when they are admitted to the Gillings School of Global Public Health; consequently, the requirements described in this catalog particularly apply to students admitted to Gillings during the 2024–2025 academic year.

Departments

Four departments in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health offer undergraduate degrees:

• Biostatistics
• Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• Health Policy and Management
• Nutrition

Lists of faculty members in those departments are included in those sections of the catalog. Other courses offered by the school are listed on the "Courses" tab under the subject codes PUBH and SPHG.  If you are not a matriculated public health major, you may need instructor consent to enroll in public health courses.

Graduate Departments

• Biostatistics
• Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• Epidemiology
• Health Behavior
• Health Policy and Management
• Maternal and Child Health
• Nutrition
• Public Health Leadership Program

Majors

• Biostatistics Major, B.S.P.H.
• Environmental Health Sciences Major, B.S.P.H.
• Health Policy and Management Major, B.S.P.H.
• Nutrition Major, B.S.P.H.