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Significant Points
51 percent of health educators work in healthcare and social assistance, and an additional 23 percent work in government.
A bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement for entry-level jobs, but a master's degree may be required for certain positions or for advancement.
Faster than average job growth is expected.

Nature of the Work
Health educators work to encourage healthy lifestyles and wellness through educating individuals and communities about behaviors that can prevent diseases, injuries, and other health problems.

Job Outlook 
Employment of health educators is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations, and job prospects are expected to be favorable.

Employment change. Employment of health educators is expected to grow by 18 percent, which is faster than the average for all occupations through 2018. Growth will result from the rising cost of healthcare.

The rising cost of healthcare has increased the need for health educators. As healthcare costs continue to rise, insurance companies, employers, and governments are attempting to find ways to curb costs. One of the more cost-effective ways is to employ health educators to teach people how to live healthy lives and avoid costly treatments for illnesses. There are a number of illnesses, such as lung cancer, HIV, heart disease and skin cancer, that may be avoided with lifestyle changes. Health educators are necessary to help the public better understand the effects of their behavior on their health. Other illnesses, such as breast and testicular cancer, are best treated with early detection, so it is important for people to understand how to detect possible problems on their own. The need to provide the public with this kind of information will result in State and local governments, hospitals, and businesses employing a growing number of health educators.

Demand for health educators is expected to increase in most industries, but their employment may decrease in secondary schools. Many schools, facing budget cuts, ask teachers trained in other fields, such as science or physical education, to teach the subject of health education.

Job prospects. Job prospects for health educators are expected to be favorable, but those who have acquired experience through internships or volunteer jobs will have better prospects. A graduate degree is preferred by employers in public health and for non-entry-level positions.

The current system used to conduct the occupational census, the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, currently lists “health educators” as a separate occupation under the category"Community and Social Services Occupations" (http://www.bls.gov/soc/soc_f0a0.htm)

The National Commission for Health Education Credentialing formally opposes the proposed change in classification 21-1091 “Health Educators” by compounding the definition to include Community Health Workers.

NCHEC supports the need for Community Health Workers to be acknowledged in the SOC and supports the further progress of that occupation. However, we strongly believe the roles and responsibilities of health educators and community health workers as well as the skills, education and/or training needed to perform the work at a competent level are sufficiently distinct to warrant independent classifications/categories.

For complete NCHEC rebuttal click here (pdf).