Officials from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado have raised more than $4 million to establish a new school devoted to training public health workers.

The Colorado School of Public Health would be housed at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora and would be the only school of its kind in a nine-state region.

"There are many professions a public health degree fits into - everything from working in the local health departments to AIDS projects," said Kathleen Matthews, assistant director of the Colorado School of Public Health Initiative.

The school would offer a master's of public health degree and a doctoral program in public health and epidemiology.

The CU Board of Regents likely will vote on the plan at its meeting Thursday. If OK'd, the school could open by fall 2008.