Undergraduate Minors

Minor fields of study have been established within the University to provide opportunities for formal inter/intra-school study. Students must be enrolled in a degree program and must be in good standing to be eligible to take a Minor Field of Study in another school. Upon successful completion of all requirements, the Minor Field of Study and the courses taken in support of the Minor are entered on the student’s transcript.

GWSPH has four minor fields of study:

Bioinformatics
Exercise Science
Nutrition
Public Health

Admissions

To apply for the Public Health minor, students must have a 2.75 GPA or above.

Note: There is no longer a waitlist for the Minor in Public Health.

To apply for the Exercise Science and Nutrition minors, students must have a 2.5 GPA or above.

The minor in Bioinformatics requires students to have a 2.8 GPA or above.

The program guides linked to each program tab that follows include the application forms for each minor program.

Contact Undergraduate Advising page for more information.

To declare a minor in the Milken Institute School of Public Health, please submit this form.

Please note that we do not accept applications to enroll in our the SPH minors within three weeks of the start of registration each semester.

The Biostatistics & Bioinformatics department offers a Minor in Bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary minor offering focused training that integrates concepts in health, biology, statistics, and computer science. The program develops and integrates skills across the core competency areas in bioinformatics, including computation, biology, statistics/mathematics, and foundational knowledge in bioinformatics.

Program Director: Keith Crandall

Admissions

Applicants must have a minimum 2.8 cumulative GPA. The application can be submitted electronically here.

Curriculum

Students must earn a C- or higher in all courses required for the minor (core and elective) to graduate with a Public Health Minor.

The minor requires at least 18 credit hours to include:

Required Courses: 12 credits

PUBH 3201 | Introduction to Bioinformatics (3 credits)
PUBH 3202 | Introduction to Genomics (3 credits)
PUBH 4201 | Practical Computing (3 credits)
PUBH 4202 | Bioinformatics Algorithms and Data Structures (3 credits)

Elective Courses - Choose two (2) courses from the following list:

ANTH 2406 | Human Evolutionary Genetics (3 credits)
BISC 2207 | Genetics (3 credits)
BISC 3209 | Molecular Biology (3 credits)
BME 2820 | Biomedical Engineering Programming I (3 credits)
BME 2825 | Biomedical Engineering Programming II (3 credits)
BME 3820 | Principles and Practice of Biomedical Engineering (4 credits)
CHEM 3165 | Biochemistry I (3 credits)
CHEM 3166 | Biochemistry II (3 credits)
CSCI 3212 | Algorithms (4 credits)
CSCI 3221 | Programming Languages (3 credits)
CSCI 4364 | Machine Learning (3 credits)
EMSE 3760 | Discrete Systems Simulation (3 credits)
EMSE 3850 | Quantitative Models in Systems Engineering (3 credits)
EMSE 4765 | Data Analysis for Engineers & Scientists (3 credits)
MATH 3359 | Introduction to Mathematical Modeling (3 credits)
MATH 3553 | Introduction to Numerical Analysis (3 credits)
MATH 3613 | Introduction to Combinatorics (3 credits)
MATH 3730 | Computability Theory (3 credits)
MATH 3740 | Computational Complexity (3 credits)
PUBH 3131 | Epidemiology: Measuring Health and Disease (3 credits)
PUBH 3151W | Current Issues in Bioethics (3 credits)
PUBH 4199 | Undergraduate Independent Study (1-3 credits)
PUBH 6859 | High Performance and Cloud Computing (3 credits)
PUBH 6885 | Computational Biology (3 credits)
STAT 2183W | Intermediate Statistics Lab/Packages (3 credits)
STAT 3119 | Analysis Variance (3 credits)
STAT 3187 | Introduction to Sampling (3 credits)
STAT 4157 | Introduction to Mathematical Statistics I (3 credits)
STAT 4188 | Nonparametric Statistical Inference (3 credits)
STAT 4189 | Mathematical Probability and Applications I (3 credits)

Program Guides

Current: Program Guide, 2024-2025

Past Program Guides

Current students in the Minor in Exercise Science program should refer to the guide from the year in which they matriculated into the program.

A Minor in Exercise Science is offered through the Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences. Students completing the minor in exercise science gain proficiency in exercise science, human anatomy, exercise physiology, and more. Furthermore, students will fulfill the academic prerequisites for entry to the Milken Institute School of Public Health Master of Science program in Exercise Science. The minor provides a strong foundation in exercise science in preparation for enrollment in professional schools including: medical school, physical therapy school, nursing school, physician assistant school, public health, and other graduate study.

Program Guide 2024-2025

Program Director: Matthew Barberio

GWSPH offers a Minor in Nutrition through the Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences. Students completing the minor in nutrition gain knowledge and skills in nutrient function and metabolism, dietary sources of nutrients, and the role of nutrients throughout the lifecycle. The Minor in Nutrition consists of at least 18 credit hours.

Program Director: Gabby Headrick

Admissions

Nutrition majors cannot declare a minor in Nutrition.

Applicants for the minor must have a 2.5 GPA or above to apply. The application can be submitted electronically here.

Curriculum

Students must earn a C- or higher in all courses required for the minor (core and elective) to graduate with a Public Health Minor.

The Minor in Nutrition requires a minimum of 18 credit hours to include:

Required Courses (9 credits)

EXNS 2119 | Introduction to Nutrition Science (pre-requisite BISC 1115 & 1125) (3 credits)
EXNS 2122 OR EXNS 3199* OR EXNS 4199** | Food Systems in Public Health OR International Nutrition OR Metabolism in Exercise and Nutrition Sciences (all 3 credits)
EXNS 2124 | Lifecycle Nutrition (3 credits)

Selective Courses (Choose 3 courses for 9 credits)

EXNS 1114 | Community Nutrition (3 credits)
EXNS 1118 | Sport and Nutrition (3 credits)
EXNS 2120 | Assessment of Nutritional Status (3 credits)
EXNS 2122 | Food Systems in Public Health (3 credits)
EXNS 2123 | Nutrition and Chronic Disease (3 credits)
EXNS 3111W | Nutrition Science Research Methods (3 credits)
EXNS 3199* | Topics in EXNS (ONLY: International Nutrition) (3 credits)
GEOG 2133 | People, Land and Food (3 credits)
PUBH 3137 | Global Public Health Nutrition (3 credits)
EXNS 4199** | Topics in EXNS (ONLY: Metabolism in Exercise and Nutrition Sciences)

* - Only EXNS 3199 International Nutrition. Other EXNS 3199 topics courses will not meet this requirement.

** - Only EXNS 4199 Metabolism in Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. Other EXNS 4199 topics courses will not meet this requirement.

Note - prerequisite required for Nutrition Sciences 1 is Introduction to Biology: Cells and Molecules with the lab (BISC 1115/1125 OR BISC 1111).

Program Guides

Current Program Guide, 2024-2025

Past Program Guides

Current students in the Minor in Nutrition program should refer to the guide from the year in which they matriculated into the program.

NOTE: Please reach out to your current advisor for any questions.

GWSPH offers a Minor in Public Health. Through this minor, students are introduced to a wide range of public health topics, such as epidemiology, health management and policy, global health, health behavior, and environmental and occupational health. The Public Health Minor consists of 18 credits. The minor provides a strong foundation in public health in preparation for careers in public health and continuing education in professional schools including: law school, medical school, physician assistant programs, and public health programs.

Program Director: Elizabeth Gray

Admissions

Admissions Requirements: Cumulative GPA of 2.75 or above. The application can be submitted electronically here.

Curriculum

Students must earn a C- or higher in all courses required for the minor (core and elective) to graduate with a Public Health Minor.

Required Courses* (9 credits)

PUBH 1101 | Intro to Public Health and Health Services (3 credits)
PUBH 3131 | Epidemiology: Measuring Health and Disease (3 credits)
PUBH 3133 | Global Health and Development (3 credits)

A grade of C- or better must be achieved for each required course to earn the minor. Required courses must be taken at GWSPH. Courses toward the minor in Public Health are open to all undergraduate students based on availability in each course section.

Elective Courses (9 credits)

See Program Guide linked below for the most up-to-date list of approved electives.

Students may fulfill the elective requirement by taking any PUBH course or any course on the approved Public Health Elective Course List from the Bachelor of Science in Public Health. In addition, students may take up to 3 elective credits from the approved Study Abroad course list or the approved non-GW course list as long as they comply with all rules regarding courses taken outside of GW.

Non-Study Abroad courses taken outside of GW must meet the following requirements to be considered for approval:

They must be offered by an accredited school. They must be related to public health as determined by the Program Director. They may not be taught by graduate students. While courses may be taken on-line, they may be open access, on-line courses (e.g., MOOC or Coursera). The class must be graded.

Program Guides

Current Program Guide 2024-2025

Past Program Guides

Current students in the Minor in Public Health program should refer to the guide from the year in which they matriculated into the program.

NOTE: Please reach out to your current advisor for any questions.