There Is No Public Health Bachelor’s Major at Case Western Reserve University: The Undergraduate Option Is a 15-Credit Public Health Minor That Pairs With Majors Such as Nutrition, Sociology or Anthropology, and Current Students Can Apply to a Five-Year Bachelor’s Plus MPH Combined Program, for Domestic, International (Including Chinese) and Transfer Applicants

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is in Cleveland, Ohio. The short answer: on the pages read for this guide, CWRU does not list a bachelor’s major called public health. In the 2026-27 General Bulletin’s list of all academic programs, the only undergraduate public health item is the Public Health minor (offered by the School of Medicine’s Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences); the Master of Public Health (MPH), the graduate certificate and several “master’s/MPH” dual degrees are graduate level. So this guide covers the closest undergraduate paths: the public health minor with a related major, and the combined Bachelor’s/MPH program that current students can apply to. It then speaks to U.S. applicants, international applicants, applicants from China and transfer students.

1. Degrees and options: what exists and what does not

• Public Health minor (15 credits): the Bulletin says the minor exposes students to the field of public health and suits students who are pre-health or pursuing medical anthropology, medical sociology, mental health, global health, nutrition and health promotion, or nursing; minor courses may be double-counted with the major. Required: MPHP 101 Introduction to Public Health (3), MPHP 301 Introduction to Epidemiology (3), and one of ANTH 359 Introduction to Global Health, INTH 301 Fundamentals of Global Health or NURS 372 (nursing concentration students only) (3). The elective courses must come from one focus area: Public Health Nursing, Global Health, Medical Anthropology, Medical Sociology, Mental Health, or Nutrition and Health Promotion. Director: Catherine M. Stein, PhD; contact ph-minor@case.edu. The page does not itemize how many elective credits are needed, so confirm with the director.
• Health-related bachelor’s majors (names from the program list; the list shows the nutrition majors shared between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine): Nutrition (BA, BS), Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism (BA, BS), Sociology (BA), Anthropology (BA), Psychology (BA), Gerontological Studies (BA), Environmental Studies (BA), Neuroscience (BS), Biology (BA, BS) and others; the Nursing BSN is in the School of Nursing and not covered here. Related minors include Healthcare Management, Communication for Health Professionals, Environmental Nutrition, Food Systems Sustainability, and Health, and Bioethics and Medical Humanities.
• Nutrition, BS (Bulletin text): suited to students who want graduate study in nutritional biochemistry, dietetics, public health and community nutrition or other biomedical sciences, or to enter dentistry, medicine, physical therapy or pharmacy school. Required nutrition courses include Nutrition, Food Science (with lab), Dietary Patterns, Human Nutrition I and II, research methods and a senior capstone, plus three nutrition electives; also chemistry (CHEM 105, 106, 113, 223), biochemistry BIOC 307, biology (BIOL 214, 216 with lab) and one statistics course (ANTH 319, PSCL 282 or STAT 201). The department also runs a Didactic Program in Dietetics accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics.
• Combined Bachelor’s/MPH (five years): see section 2.
• Honors/research, STEM designation, practicum hours and any practice requirement for the minor: not stated on the pages read.
• Pre-med: CWRU has a Pre-Professional Scholars Program (PPSP) offering conditional admission to its School of Medicine or School of Dental Medicine, due December 1 with no testing required; it is unrelated to the public health minor and mentioned in this one line only.

2. How you get into the program

• Admission and declaring a major: the policies page says first-year students entering in fall can start declaring a major on October 1 and must declare in their second semester (by March 1) or a registration hold is placed; you may change later, and transfer students can declare from the start of their first semester. A major or minor choice is recorded once the declaration form, signed by the student, naming the advisor and signed by the academic representative for the major or minor, is submitted.
• Gate for the minor: the Public Health minor page gives no minimum GPA, seat limit or application date; not published. Contact ph-minor@case.edu.
• Eligibility for the combined MPH: the Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s program (formerly Integrated Graduate Studies) is for current CWRU undergraduates who are candidates for any bachelor’s degree. Most apply in the spring of the junior year (sixth semester) after about 75 credits; 90 credits and junior status must be complete before starting MPH courses. Slots are limited: apply by April 15 for the first round of review; the final date for fall is July 15 (neither date has a year printed, so confirm). Materials: online application (School of Medicine, Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s in Public Health), resume, a one-page personal statement on motivation for the MPH, a one-to-two-page reflection essay, three recommendations (at least one academic), unofficial transcripts (official ones are required at matriculation) and a Planned Program of Study form; the page says the application system should automatically waive the fee. Whether international students are eligible and the minimum GPA are not published. The combined-programs page lists Public Health as “Bachelor’s and Master of Public Health, 5 years” and says most programs recommend applying in the sophomore or junior year.

3. Prerequisites and curriculum

• High school courses (university-wide): English 4 years, math 3, science 3 (2 of them laboratory science), social studies 3, foreign language 2. CWRU suggests an additional year of math and laboratory science for engineering or the sciences and more social studies and language for the liberal arts. It gives no public-health-specific high school prerequisites.
• Minor courses: see section 1. Electives come from one focus area; for example the global health area includes ANTH 303, 354, 359, BIOL 352, INTH 301 and MPHP 489, and the nutrition and health promotion area includes MPHP 413 Health Education, Communication, and Advocacy and NTRN 337, 328, 341, 300, 320 and 343.
• Biostatistics, health policy and other core courses, and math/statistics requirements: the minor page lists none of these; the Nutrition BS requires one statistics course. AP/IB credit: the Bulletin has a separate AP/IB equivalency page, which was not read, so not published on the pages read.

4. Rounds, deadlines and materials (first-year, fall 2027)

• Deadlines (no year printed; confirm they apply to fall 2027 entry): Early Action (EA) November 1; Early Decision I (ED I) November 1; Pre-Professional Scholars Program December 1; Early Decision II (ED II) January 15; Regular Decision January 15; spring entry November 15. Anticipated notification: EA December 19, ED I December 5, PPSP January 30, ED II February 6, Regular March 20; the enrollment deadline is May 1 for EA, Regular and PPSP.
• Platform: the Common App or the Coalition application with Scoir.
• Materials: official high school transcript, school report, counselor recommendation, two teacher recommendations, a $75 application fee (waivers available), the application essay through the Common App or Scoir; SAT/ACT scores optional; Early Decision requires a signed agreement.
• Testing: test optional. No testing is required for any of the 100+ undergraduate programs or for scholarship and financial aid programs. If you send scores, the codes are SAT 1105 and ACT 3244, and you can change your decision up to two weeks before decision release.
• Financial aid documents: U.S. citizens and permanent residents file the FAFSA plus CSS Profile; non-U.S. residents file the CSS Profile only (code 1105).
• How it decides: CWRU says it uses a holistic review and has no minimum GPA or test score.

5. The three readers

U.S. applicants

• The cost page gives one tuition figure and does not split in-state and out-of-state: 2026-27 tuition $71,410; residential total $95,704 (housing $11,688, meal plan $8,600, fees $696, matriculation fee $760, books $1,200, personal $1,350, transportation variable) and commuter total $80,364; a transportation allowance of up to $2,000 based on home state. No public health surcharge is listed.
• CWRU says more than 80% of students receive some aid and it awarded $213 million in institutional aid last year; students are automatically evaluated for several scholarships, there are essay-based scholarship competitions, and programs such as Cleveland Scholars, QuestBridge and Posse.

International applicants

• International applicants follow the same deadlines and process. Applicants whose first language is not English submit one of: Duolingo 115, IELTS 7, PTE Academic 61, TOEFL iBT 4.5 (for TOEFL taken on or after January 21, 2026, the new 1–6 scale; for earlier tests the minimum is 90 internet-based or 577 paper). The requirement is waived if you attended a school with English as the language of instruction for two years, score 630 or higher on SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, or 26 or higher on ACT English. Translations into English are required for non-English academic records and recommendations.
• CWRU says about 20% of undergraduates are citizens of other countries, from more than 100 countries; financial aid is available to international students, several scholarships are automatic, and there are scholarship competitions including full-tuition awards.
• The amount of funds to show, co-op and internship or work limits, and whether the combined MPH accepts international students are not stated on the pages read; ask admissions and international student services.

Applicants from China

• Gaokao: the pages read do not say whether it is considered or give a cut-off; not published.
• Documents: the international page gives only the general rule (English translations of records and recommendations, plus the English proficiency scores above). Whether provincial exam records or similar are asked for separately is not published.
• China-specific note: none on the pages read; check the international applicants page and contact admissions.

6. Costs and scholarships, a note

• See above. Surcharges: nursing students have an additional $1,450 in fees; the minor page and the cost page list no public health surcharge.
• Transfer students are automatically considered for merit scholarships, including the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Scholarship for active PTK members admitted as transfer students, $25,000 per year.

7. Transfer

• Who counts: anyone who graduated high school and enrolled in college courses, whether or not credit was earned. First-year transfers are admitted in the spring semester.
• Deadlines (no year printed): fall early plan March 15, fall regular July 1, spring November 15 (later applications considered on a space-available basis); 3/2 Engineering February 15.
• Materials: transcripts from all colleges attended, a recommendation from a college instructor, the $75 fee, a Transfer College Report (good standing, eligible to return); an official high school transcript (waived in some cases, such as an associate degree or 45 credits with high school graduation two years earlier); testing optional. Credit may be awarded for eligible courses with a C or better at an accredited institution.
• Entering the public health minor: transfer students can declare from the first semester. Minimum GPA and prerequisites for transfer are not published (the page describes a holistic review).
• International transfer: same process and dates; English translations for non-English records. Whether a credential evaluation is required is not stated on the pages read.

Checklist

U.S. applicants:

• No public health bachelor’s major; take the 15-credit minor (intro to public health, intro to epidemiology, one global health course, plus electives from one focus area) with a major such as Nutrition, Sociology or Anthropology
• Common App or Scoir; EA/ED I November 1, ED II/Regular January 15; $75 fee; testing optional; two teacher recommendations; declare a major by March 1 of the second semester

International applicants (including China):

• English: Duolingo 115, IELTS 7, PTE 61, TOEFL iBT 4.5 (new scale from January 21, 2026); waived with two years of English-medium schooling, SAT reading and writing 630 or ACT English 26; translations for records and recommendations
• Gaokao and China-specific notes are not published; combined MPH eligibility for international students is not published

Transfer students:

• Fall March 15 or July 1; instructor recommendation, transcripts and Transfer College Report; testing optional; C or better for credit

Sources: Case Western Reserve University, Bulletin: all academic programs; Bulletin: Public Health, Minor; Bulletin: Nutrition, BS; Undergraduate academic policies; Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Programs; Combined Bachelor’s/MPH admission; Areas of Study; Deadlines and Requirements; Test Policy; First-Year Applicants; International Applicants; Transfer Applicants; Tuition and Costs. Information is for fall 2027 entry (costs are for 2026-27). The deadline pages print dates without a year, so confirm they apply to fall 2027 entry; check CWRU’s website for the latest.