Graduate Program

The graduate program in Biobehavioral Health helps prepare students to focus on how biological, behavioral, sociocultural, and environmental variables interact to influence health in individuals as well as groups. Because health often is a product of a number of interactions, effective interventions may require combinations of biological, behavioral, sociocultural, and environmental strategies. Scholars and professionals who can bring this integrated perspective to their work are needed in research, teaching, and policy roles in a variety of settings, including the health care field, research laboratories, government agencies, universities, and medical schools.

What do Ph.D.'s in Biobehavioral Health do?

A good answer comes from profiles of some of our graduates. Please take a look at some BBH Alumni Profiles.

The College

The graduate program in biobehavioral health is a part of Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development—the first college in the country with a combined emphasis on human development and human health. The college focuses on understanding and influencing the development of healthy individuals, the prevention of injury or illness, the developmental processes leading to illness or injury and the recovery of health, and the management of health and human service programs and delivery systems.

The college offers graduate degrees in eight programs: Biobehavioral Health; Communication Disorders; Kinesiology; Health Policy and Administration; Hotel, Restaurant, and Recreation Management; Human Development and Family Studies; and Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management (Leisure Studies). In addition, the college participates in three intercollege graduate programs: Genetics, Nutrition, and Physiology.