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One eligibility requirement for the Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) examination in New Jersey is that a candidate must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. Your degree, or additional coursework taken before or after you earned your degree, shall include a minimum of 32 semester credit hours in biology, chemistry, physics and/or environmental sciences and mathematics. Only up to six (6) of the 32 credits may be in college-level mathematics. At least one of the courses must be a laboratory course in biology, chemistry, physics, or the environmental sciences. Courses with grades less than 2.0 (“C”) are not acceptable in fulfillment of the requirement. Please note that behavioral science subjects, such as psychology and social neuroscience, and social science subjects, such as sociology, economics, history, anthropology, and political science, are not acceptable.
The following list of courses is intended to serve as guidance in fulfillment of the requirements set forth at N.J.A.C. 8:7-1.10(b)1. It is therefore important to note that this list is not comprehensive. It is subject to periodic review and update to include additional courses. Courses that do not appear on the list may still be acceptable pending determination by the Board.
List of Recommended Courses
- Air Pollution
- Anatomy
- Animal Science
- Bacteriology
- Biochemistry
- Biology
- Biostatistics *
- Calculus *
- Cell Physiology
- Chemistry
- Dairy Science
- Earth Science
- Ecology
- Embryology
- Endocrinology
- Entomology
- Environmental Science
- Epidemiology
- Food Bacteriology
- Food Science
- Genetics
- Hazardous Waste
- Health Science
- Histology
- Hydrogeology
- Hydrology
- Industrial Hygiene
- Meteorology
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
- Parasitology
- Pathology
- Physics
- Physiology
- Radiological Health
- Soil Science
- Statistics *
- Toxicology
- Virology
Please note: Only up to six (6) credits in the courses marked with an asterisk (*) may be used in fulfillment of the requirement for a minimum of 32 credit hours in biology, chemistry, physics and/or environmental sciences and mathematics.
Review the REHS Licensure Examination Guide from the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) Office of Local Public Health (OLPH) for more information.
Although not required to sit for the REHS licensing exam, taking a general chemistry course and a general biology course prior to enrollment in EPH is encouraged to help prepare students for the rigors of the program. If you have not taken a general chemistry or biology course (or it has been a while since you took them) and you are planning to enroll in EPH, we highly encourage you to work your way through the Chemistry and Biology Resources we have assembled, prior to the beginning of EPH.
