New BS in Public Health

[withrown]

WGU is hiring course developers and testers for a BS in Public Health program. In my opinion, they should have skipped directly to the MPH. There's not much that can be done with a BS, and people usually transition into this field with experience in healthcare or science. They also should have created a BSW, MSW, or master's in mental health counseling instead of undergraduate degrees in psychology and health and human services. With them already being an education-focused university, school counseling and school psychology certification/license-eligible programs would have made sense. 

WGU's mission was to offer practical degrees that lead to jobs, and I don't think their latest health-related programs align with that mission.

I can only speak to my experience in Alabama but I suspect this is the case nationally. In Alabama maybe 10ish years ago, the Al department of public health needed employees but they did'nt have enough staff pay lines for folks at the masters level but they still needed qualified candiates for the positions. The answer was the BS in public health. FWIW, the university I was formerly employed at had the same faculty teaching the BSPH and MSPH (also DRPH). The BS and MPH curiculum is almost identical except the MPH has more papers and presentations.