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Major · Health Professions

Bridging clinics and communities through Community Health Services

Community Health Services trains you to connect health systems with the people they serve — as a community health worker, health educator, patient navigator, or case manager. About 1,429 degrees are awarded each year across 82 colleges, with bachelor’s completers reporting $51,792 in five-year median earnings.

Schools offering
82
Annual completions
1,429
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$46k

About this major

Community Health Services / Liaison / Counseling prepares you to act as the bridge between health care systems and the communities they serve. The CIP definition pulls together public and community health, human services, health services administration, group counseling and education, advocacy, cross-cultural and multilingual communication, and the laws governing how care reaches underserved populations. Coursework typically blends behavioral science, biostatistics fundamentals, and applied skills like needs assessment, program planning, and health communication, capped by a required field placement in a clinic, public health department, or community nonprofit.

The major fits students drawn to direct community work rather than lab science or hospital clinical roles. Comfort with people across cultural, language, and socioeconomic lines is the underlying skill — graduates spend their days in homes, schools, and waiting rooms more often than at desks. A second-language background, lived experience with the populations being served, and tolerance for slow-moving systemic problems all help. The thinking style rewarded here is integrative: connecting a patient’s housing instability to their missed appointments to the clinic’s outreach budget.

On the scale side, 1,429 degrees are awarded annually across 82 colleges, with James Madison University alone producing 449 of them. Bachelor’s completers report $51,792 in five-year median earnings, while associate’s completers report $40,919. The most common destinations are Community Health Workers ($51,030 median, 11.3% projected growth) and Health Education Specialists ($63,000, 4.5% growth) — modest wages by national standards, paired with steady demand driven by Medicaid expansion and chronic-disease management programs.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Health education specialists $63k +4.5% Bachelor's degree
Community health workers $51k +11.3% High school diploma or equivalent
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$46k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$41k

Bachelor's

$52k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you’re drawn to direct community service over hospital clinical work, if you have a second-language or lived-experience advantage that lets you connect with underserved populations more naturally than a generic candidate could, if Community Health Worker pay of $51,030 reads as acceptable rather than disappointing for the impact involved, if you can hold attention on slow-moving systemic problems without needing immediate wins, and if you’re willing to stack a CHES or state CHW credential on top of the degree to broaden the role you can step into.

Think twice if your real goal is licensed clinical counseling — that path requires a master’s and state licensure (LMHC, LPC, or LCSW), and the bachelor’s here prepares you for paraprofessional roles rather than clinical practice. Reconsider also if salary is a primary driver: with a bachelor’s median of $51,792 and most direct-service roles clustered around $50K, this is a major chosen for mission rather than earnings ceiling. Skip it if you’re looking for the broader, policy-leaning version of the field — Public Health, General (10,951 annual completions) is a stronger signal for graduate school and federal or state agency work.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA 0 449 449
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 0 106 106
Purdue University Global West Lafayette, IN 0 96 96
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 0 85 85
University of the Cumberlands Williamsburg, KY 2 56 58
Worcester State University Worcester, MA 0 46 46
Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH 0 46 46
Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX 0 41 41
University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR 0 38 38
CUNY Kingsborough Community College Brooklyn, NY 36 0 36
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Public Health, General

10,951 completions/yr

Health and Wellness, General

4,268 completions/yr

Public Health Education and Promotion

2,520 completions/yr

Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician

1,773 completions/yr

Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling

1,708 completions/yr

Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions, Other

977 completions/yr

Behavioral Aspects of Health

380 completions/yr

Clinical/Medical Social Work

264 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Community Health Services majors actually study day-to-day?
The CIP definition lists public and community health, human and social services, health services administration, group counseling, health education, group advocacy, cross-cultural and multilingual communication, and applicable laws and policies. In practice, you split time between behavioral science coursework, epidemiology and biostatistics fundamentals, and applied work in needs assessment, program planning, and health communication. Most bachelor’s programs require a supervised internship in a clinic, public health department, or nonprofit — that fieldwork is where the major actually lives.
Do I need a bachelor’s, or is an associate’s enough?
The earnings split matters here. Bachelor’s completers report $51,792 in five-year median earnings versus $40,919 for associate’s — a gap of roughly $10,800. The bachelor’s also opens roles like Health Education Specialist ($63,000 median, bachelor’s typical) that are closed to associate’s holders. That said, the largest BLS-tracked job in the field — Community Health Worker ($51,030 median, 11.3% growth) — only requires a high school diploma plus state certification, so an associate’s plus CHW credential is a viable entry point.
What kinds of jobs do graduates end up in?
Two roles dominate the BLS data in the packet. Community health workers earn $51,030 median with 11.3% projected growth — strong demand driven by Medicaid expansion and chronic disease outreach programs. Health education specialists earn $63,000 with 4.5% growth and typically hold a bachelor’s plus the CHES credential. Beyond those, graduates work as patient navigators, peer support specialists, case managers, and program coordinators in hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and county health departments.
Can I become a clinical counselor with this degree?
No — not directly. Clinical mental health counseling and licensed clinical social work both require a master’s degree plus state licensure (LMHC, LPC, or LCSW). A bachelor’s in Community Health Services prepares you for paraprofessional and outreach roles, not for licensed clinical practice. If clinical counseling is the goal, this major works as a feeder into a master’s in social work, counseling, or public health, and the related-major data points to Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling (1,708 completions) and Clinical/Medical Social Work (264) as more directly aligned undergraduate paths.
How does this compare to a Public Health major?
Public Health, General is the larger and broader sibling at 10,951 annual completions versus 1,429 here. The two overlap heavily on coursework — epidemiology, health behavior, program evaluation — but Community Health Services leans more applied and frontline, with explicit training in advocacy, group counseling, and bilingual community outreach. Public Health, General is a stronger signal for graduate school and policy work; Community Health Services is a stronger signal for direct service roles and CHW or CHES certification tracks.
Where are the strongest programs concentrated?
James Madison University dominates the bachelor’s output at 449 completions per year — by itself nearly a third of the national total of 1,429. The University of Arizona (106), Purdue University Global (96), and the University of Pennsylvania (85) round out the largest cohorts. CUNY Kingsborough Community College leads on the associate’s side at 36. The 82-college footprint means most students will find a regional public option rather than needing to chase a destination program.