The College of Health and Human Services prepares both undergraduate and graduate students to provide care and services and fill administrative and leadership roles in a variety of health care and social service organizations. The College is comprised of a School of Nursing, five academic departments—Social Work, Health Administration and Policy, Global and Community Health, Rehabilitation Science, and Nutrition and Food Studies—and three research centers—the Center for Health Care Policy and Ethics, the Center for the Study of Chronic Illness and Disability, and the Machine Learning and Inference Laboratory. These centers perform cutting-edge health services research and serve as a vital source of health policy information and advocacy on national health and social care issues.

College faculty have been recognized by the university and the State Council of Higher Education for excellence in teaching. The College has developed strong partnerships with regional, national, and international agencies in several important areas:

1. College faculty serve as both research, educational, and clinical resources for local and state agencies and non-profit organizations;
2. Undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students provide services to clients through their professional practice throughout Northern Virginia and many other regional, national, and international sites;
3. International students study in CHHS to gain professional knowledge and skills to enhance health care and social policy in their own countries.

These partnerships broaden and strengthen the college’s academic programs and provide leadership in addressing critical health and social needs. In addition to offering coursework on both the Fairfax and Prince Williams campuses, the college has a strong Academic Outreach Program to deliver advanced health education to working professionals at or near their work sites, and has recently expanded its distance education offerings to make health professional training more accessible to all students.

The philosophy of the College of Health and Human Services includes explicit statements regarding the value of sound general education that enables students to develop analytical and creative thinking and make well-founded ethical decisions. Graduates are expected to practice in a variety of roles in complex, multi-cultural, and international settings. The college encourages diversity in its student body and provides interdisciplinary and innovative professional education that is well grounded in philosophy, science, social science, and technology.