Health Sciences major
Health Sciences: courses, careers, and where to study
Health Sciences is a broad pre-professional major for students preparing for medical, dental, PA, PT, or pharmacy school, combining biology, chemistry, and patient-care exposure.
Health Sciences is an umbrella undergraduate major covering the foundational sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, anatomy, physiology, microbiology) plus health-system context (epidemiology, public health, healthcare administration). It is a common pathway for students aiming at medical school, PA programs, dental school, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or pharmacy. Many programs include a clinical-shadowing or internship requirement.
Unlike a strict pre-med Biology track, Health Sciences leaves more room for healthcare-specific electives like medical ethics, healthcare policy, and global health. It also better positions graduates for direct-entry healthcare roles if they decide not to pursue further professional school.
Academic classification (CIP)
In the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, Health Sciences maps to CIP 51.0000, Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General, within the HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND RELATED PROGRAMS family. The official definition:
A general, introductory, undifferentiated, or joint program in health services occupations that prepares individuals for either entry into specialized training programs or for a variety of concentrations in the allied health area. Includes instruction in the basic sciences, research and clinical procedures, and aspects of the subject matter related to various health occupations.
Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020. View on nces.ed.gov
What credential Health Sciences is awarded as
Of the 37,521 Health Sciences credentials U.S. colleges reported conferring in 2023-24:
- Certificate11%4,313
- Associate30%11,362
- Bachelor's53%19,944
- Graduate5%1,902
This mix is fairly consistent nationally: across the 48 states reporting it, the certificate share moves by about 27 percentage points between the 10th and 90th percentile state, so the credential is more a property of the field than of where you study it. See the full study.
Credentials conferred in 2023-24, U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and this counts what was awarded rather than what a college currently offers.
What you'll study
- General biology, chemistry, organic chemistry
- Anatomy, physiology, microbiology
- Biochemistry
- Statistics and research methods
- Public health and epidemiology fundamentals
- Healthcare systems and policy
- Medical ethics
- Clinical or research internship
Typical careers
- Pre-medicine pathway → MD/DO
- Pre-PA pathway → PA-C
- Pre-dentistry pathway → DDS/DMD
- Public Health Specialist
- Healthcare Administrator
- Medical Sales Rep
Typical salary range: $48,000–$75,000 early-career (varies widely by sub-pathway)Ranges are early-career estimates. Any BLS figure shown is the occupation-wide median across all experience levels, not a starting wage, and is informational only.
Related occupations
Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Health Sciences, with what each one pays and how many openings it is projected to average each year. Ordered by projected annual openings, largest first. Linked titles open the full CampusPin career page.
| Occupation | Median pay | Openings / yr | Projected change | Most entrants hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO MATCH | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay, openings and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections).
“Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already working in the occupation. It is not a legal requirement, not an admission rule, and not a guarantee of entry. Studying Health Sciences does not guarantee any specific occupation, and many of these roles are entered from several different fields. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.
The federal crosswalk associates only one occupation with Health Sciences. That is a statement about the field, not about its graduates: a breadth degree is not tied to a particular job, so the crosswalk has little to map. Graduates of this field work across many occupations, and what follows the degree depends far more on the skills and experience built alongside it.
Before you commit to a Health Sciences major
CampusPin does not rank programs. Use these prompts to pressure-test whether a specific Health Sciences program fits your goals, they are decision questions, not claims about any school.
Ask the Health Sciences department
- Which concentrations or specializations are offered, and which faculty lead them?
- What does the typical course sequence look like, and how much is required vs. elective?
- What labs, studios, clinical placements, or research opportunities are available to undergraduates?
- Is there a capstone, thesis, internship, or co-op requirement?
Ask current students & check the curriculum
- How heavy is the workload, and how accessible is the faculty?
- What internships or co-ops did you do, and where do recent graduates end up?
- Does the required curriculum actually match the careers listed above?
- How easy is it to add a minor, double major, or switch tracks later?
Find a Health Sciences program
CampusPin lists U.S. universities and community colleges by state, tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting, no account required.
Colleges that awarded the most Health Sciences credentials
Largest by credentials conferred in 2023-24. This measures the size of the graduating class, not quality, and it is not a ranking.
- University of South FloridaFL · 1,092
- University of Central FloridaFL · 1,050
- Purdue University GlobalIN · 959
- Pasadena City CollegeCA · 785
- California State University-SacramentoCA · 632
- Sierra CollegeCA · 616
- University of Missouri-ColumbiaMO · 502
- Fresno City CollegeCA · 470
- Stony Brook UniversityNY · 451
- University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical CollegeAR · 440
- Arkansas State University-NewportAR · 388
- Texas A & M University-College StationTX · 386
Based on credentials this institution reported conferring in the federal IPEDS completions collection for 2023-24. It confirms the field was awarded that year, not that the program currently accepts students, and it covers only the fields CampusPin tracks. Confirm current offerings with the institution.
Where Health Sciences credentials were awarded
36 states have a distinct enough set of Health Sciences colleges to be worth its own page.
- California110
- New York52
- Texas48
- Pennsylvania35
- Massachusetts31
- New Jersey28
- Georgia27
- Arkansas26
- Florida25
- Kentucky25
- Missouri22
- Minnesota21
- Illinois20
- Ohio20
- Wisconsin18
- Michigan18
- Indiana15
- Arizona13
- Washington11
- Connecticut10
- Alabama10
- Louisiana9
- Maine9
- Tennessee8
- Oregon8
- Maryland8
- Oklahoma8
- Nebraska8
- West Virginia7
- Kansas7
- Iowa6
- Montana6
- North Dakota6
- Idaho5
- Rhode Island5
- Nevada5
Search Health Sciences schools by state
Related majors
Biology
Biology is the foundational pre-health major, covering molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecological levels of living systems.
Nursing
Nursing prepares graduates for the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and careers as Registered Nurses, combining biomedical sciences with clinical rotations across hospital units.
Psychology
Psychology majors study human cognition, behavior, and emotion, preparing graduates for clinical, research, business, and human-services careers (and graduate school in clinical, counseling, and I/O psych).
Put this major in context
The salary above is an occupation-wide median from federal data, not a starting wage or a guarantee. These CampusPin guides and reports help you read it well, see where a Health Sciences degree can lead, and weigh it against cost and program quality.
How one major leads to many careers
Why a single Health Sciences degree can open more than one path, and how to read the occupations above.
Why a median wage is not a starting salary
How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.
When accreditation and licensure matter
How program accreditation and state licensure can shape a Health Sciences path before you enroll.
Does a pricier college pay off?
How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.
Does picking a major narrow your college list?
Across the federal completions data, most fields barely change which colleges are on the table. Which ones genuinely do.
Certificate or degree?
What credential a field is usually awarded as is mostly set by the field itself, not by the state, with a short list of exceptions.
How this guide is sourced
This is an editorial guide from the CampusPin Editorial Team. Career and wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages, and link to each career page. Program availability comes from CampusPin's free institution search; CampusPin does not assert that any specific school offers this exact major until that program data is verified. Last reviewed 2026-06-15. How CampusPin sources data · Report a correction.