Best Health Education Specialist programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment
Provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles.
12 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 284 people a year. The job pays a median of $74,150 in Colorado across about 750 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Colorado that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Colorado that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Colorado (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Colorado page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.2201In Colorado → | 218 | 76.8% | 6 | $36,762 | $25,076 |
| 2 | CIP 51.1504In Colorado → | 52 | 18.3% | 4 | $37,335 | $22,861 |
| 3 | CIP 51.2207In Colorado → | 9 | 3.2% | 1 | $36,762 | $25,076 |
| 4 | Health and Wellness, Generalmain feeder CIP 51.0001In Colorado → | 3 | 1.1% | 2 | $34,545 | $25,000 |
| 5 | CIP 51.2212In Colorado → | 2 | 0.7% | 1 | $36,762 | $25,076 |
Top 12 schools in Colorado
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 12 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 185 | Public Health, General | $40,566 | 46% | — | 75% |
| 2 | Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling | — | 27% | — | — |
| 3 | Fort Lewis College Durango, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Public Health, General | $37,498 | 36% | — | 77% |
| 4 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 13 | Public Health, General | — | 32% | — | 99% |
| 5 | Community College of Denver Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling | — | 20% | — | — |
| 6 | University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Public Health Education and Promotion | — | 51% | — | 86% |
| 7 | Trinidad State College Trinidad, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling | — | 55% | — | — |
| 8 | Arapahoe Community College Littleton, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Public Health, General | — | 29% | — | — |
| 9 | Colorado State University - Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Health and Wellness, General | — | 67% | — | 89% |
| 10 | Western Colorado University Gunnison, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Behavioral Aspects of Health | — | 50% | — | 100% |
| 11 | Community College of Aurora Aurora, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Public Health, General | — | 33% | — | — |
| 12 | Red Rocks Community College Lakewood, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Public Health, General | — | 32% | — | — |
All 12 schools in Colorado
Every school in Colorado with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | Denver | Public | 185 | 1 |
| Colorado Mountain College | Glenwood Springs | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Fort Lewis College | Durango | Public | 20 | 2 |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver | Denver | Public | 13 | 2 |
| Community College of Denver | Denver | Public | 12 | 1 |
| University of Northern Colorado | Greeley | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Trinidad State College | Trinidad | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Arapahoe Community College | Littleton | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Colorado State University - Fort Collins | Fort Collins | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Western Colorado University | Gunnison | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Community College of Aurora | Aurora | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Red Rocks Community College | Lakewood | Public | 1 | 1 |
What health education specialists earn in Colorado
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $64,070. Colorado pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Colorado
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Health Education Specialists page.
How to become a Health Education Specialist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Colorado
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 9 majors mapped to Health Education Specialists9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0905Health Communication
- 51.0001Health and Wellness, General
- 51.0504Dental Public Health and Education
- 51.1504Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling
- 51.2201Public Health, General
- 51.2207Public Health Education and Promotion
- 51.2209Maternal and Child Health
- 51.2210International Public Health/International Health
- 51.2212Behavioral Aspects of Health
Common questions
Answers for people weighing health education specialists programs in Colorado.
What degree do you need to become a Health Education Specialist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Public Health, General, which awarded 218 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 76.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Health Education Specialist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Public Health, Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions, Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences. Together they graduate about 284 people a year in Colorado.
How much do health education specialists earn in Colorado?+
The median is $74,150 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 15.7% above the U.S. median of $64,070. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for health education specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +4.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+
12 institutions in Colorado reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do health education specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Health Educator, Clinical Instructor, Public Health Educator, Health Education Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 21-1091.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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