Health Science and Recreation
Our MPH Program, on campus and on line, specializes in community health education and has been accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) since 1974.
Health Science and Recreation
The B.S. in Recreation offers concentrations in Recreation Management and Recreation Therapy. Its core curriculum is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT).
Health Science and Recreation
Our Public Health program offers a B.S. in Public Health and a B.S. in Public Health with a Concentration in Health Services Administration.
Welcome to SJSU Department of Public Health and Recreation (PHR)!
With our slogan of "Achieving Health and Wellbeing for All," we are committed to preparing leaders who promote health and improve the environments in which we live, work, learn, and play. We strive to embrace a Teacher-Scholar-Practitioner Model through student, alumni, faculty, and community engagement to advance policies and practices in public health and recreation fields.
Overall, our mission is to cultivate a learning community, advance scholarship/research, and act as an agent of social change within the domains of public health and recreation through serving our diverse SJSU PHR students and alumni and partnering communities to facilitate personal and community transformation.
This is a very exciting, important time for further building our community of SJSU PHR Department. Along with their commitment to quality education, our experienced faculty members are involved in innovative research and community projects. Our talented students are diverse, passionate, and deeply engaged in the classroom and the community, for example, through internships and community-service learning. Our alumni are among the leaders of the public health and recreation workforce within all sectors, not only here in Northern California, but nationally and globally, as well.
All of our programs incorporate student-centered, practical competence-based curriculums with our commitment to community development, social justice actions, and interdisciplinary approaches with its emphasis on rigor and innovation, high-impact experiential learning, and career-focused applied orientations. Along with Public Health Undergraduate Program Fact Sheet and Recreation Program Fact Sheet, please follow the links below or in the side bar to the specific programs in our department:
Public Health Undergraduate Program
Is a degree in Recreation for you?
Check out this video with Rec majors to learn more:
Application open for changing major to Public Health
We consider applications to the Public Health major at the end of the fall and spring semesters. You can learn more about the application process on our About the Major webpage.
Want to learn more about the relationship between public health and recreation?
Follow this link for an interesting 2019 panel discussion sponsored by APHA.
Check out this podcast with PHR's very own Heather Duplaisir. Prof Duplaisir discusses the exciting topic of sustainable tourism. Here's a link for a quick excerpt from the interview. Check it out!
In the News: A dose of nature: doctors prescribe a day in the park for anxiety.
Check out this story from NBC about Parks Rx. What's Parks Rx, you ask? Why, it's only one of the best responses to daily stress, is all. View the story to learn more!
Here's another story from our very own Spartan Daily! In it, you can read about how spending time outdoors is GOOD for you.
A Recreation and Nature minor is available!
Looking for Rec employment? Check out these job pages