The Council on Education for Public Health, which accredits 68 schools of public health and 190 programs nationally, is reviewing proposed changes to its curriculum competencies. The current language, adopted in 2024, requires educators to discuss how structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity. The organization has proposed multiple revisions to this requirement over the past year.
The most recent proposed revision would replace the explicit mention of racism and structural bias with language asking students to “examine systemic factors that contribute to challenges in achieving optimal population health for a given communities.” Executive Director Laura Rasar King stated that finalized language would be available in 2027, and described the organization’s goal as maintaining rigorous standards while ensuring criteria are workable for schools operating in diverse legal and policy environments.
Public health educators have expressed concerns about the potential changes, with some viewing them as anticipatory compliance with the Trump administration’s opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Michael Siegel, a professor at Tufts University, argued that removing explicit references to racism contradicts the field’s own 2020 statement that racism in America represents a public health crisis. Lauren Junge-Maughan, president of the National Association for Doctors of Public Health, publicly expressed concern about the proposed revisions.
Other public health professionals have defended the new language as reasonable. Marc Kiviniemi, a professor at the University of Kentucky, characterized the revised language as a middle ground that preserves the educational goal of helping students understand how structural and social issues, including discrimination, shape health outcomes across groups. Some observers noted that pressure from state legislatures in conservative states may have influenced the rewriting process.
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