Status of personal health requirement for graduation at institutions of higher education in the United States

ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the proportion of higher education institutions in the United States that require a personal health course (PHC) for graduation and to describe the nature of such requirements. Participants: This study included a random sample of public and private institutions of higher education (IHE) with undergraduate programs within the United States (N = 310). Data were collected between September 2014 and May 2015. Methods: University catalogs were accessed from the institutions' public Web sites to determine whether a PHC was offered, and whether it was exclusively or optionally required for graduation. Results: The majority (55.8%) of the sample offered at least 1 PHC, with only 10% exclusively requiring the course and an additional 10% optionally required the course. Conclusions: Although the utility of undergraduate students completing a PHC is clear, the majority of institutions do not require such a course for degree conferral.

KEYWORDS:

• General education
• health education
• student development

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.