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  • Degrees Available:
    • M.S.
  • Locations:
    • Quad Cities
    • Macomb
  • Required GPA:
    • Cumulative: 2.75
    • Last 2 years: 3.0
  • Admission Requirements:
    • Transcripts
  • Interesting Facts: Fall 2009
    • Currently enrolled: 50
    • International: 14
    • Minority: 1
    • Male: 17
    • Female: 33
    • Students with Assistantships: 10

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Graduate Programs of Study

Academic College: Education and Human Services

Program: Health Education

Emphases

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate

Program Overview

Health Education is an interdisciplinary field aimed at promoting health and preventing disease, disability, and premature death through education-driven behavior change activities designed for individuals, groups, and communities. Graduate-level health educators are generally hired as directors of health education/promotion programs in a variety of settings.

Health Sciences

Why Health Education at WIU?

Departmental faculty members have served in leadership positions in such organizations as the American Public Health Association, the American School Health Association, Society for Public Health Education, American Association for Health Education, National Safety Council, and the Illinois Sex Education Task Force. This wide variety of professional preparation and strong commitment to serving students enables the department to provide a rich breadth of courses and research opportunities leading to the comprehensive and thorough training of its graduates. By taking courses at Western Illinois University, students are able to complete courses in a traditional classroom setting, online, or via distance education. Recently, graduate students have collaborated with faculty in research studies involving such areas as binge drinking on college campuses, drug knowledge and awareness among young adults, sleep patterns of undergraduate students, methamphetamine surveillance, disaster planning for the homeless, and the impact of bullying in primary and secondary schools. These research endeavors also provided students with opportunities to make paper presentations at state and national health education conferences as well as co-author peer-reviewed publications in leading journals.

Our Faculty

Twelve faculty members holding advanced degrees from 21 universities across the United States provide course instruction and research mentoring to graduate students. Efforts are made to provide a faculty mentor who matches each student’s interests. Faculty have expertise in the following areas: women’s health; program evaluation; risk assessment; needs assessment; community development; emergency preparedness; bioterrorism; health behavior theory; environmental health; sexuality education; health services administration; alcohol and drug prevention; health risk appraisal; diabetes education; geriatric health; eating disorders; and spiritual, emotional, multicultural, and occupational health.