Online MHA Programs Ranked by Affordability (2026)

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Student loan debt in the United States continues to reach high levels, with recent reports showing a total balance of $1.81 trillion (EducationData 2025). Around 92 percent of this debt is attributed to federal student loans, affecting over 42 million students. The average federal student loan debt balance is over $39,000. This huge amount of debt is a big concern for students, families, and experts, ultimately creating a need for more affordable master’s degrees.

In addition, professionals will want to seek out degrees where growth opportunities exist, the job market is expanding, and salaries are attractive. Enter online master of healthcare administration (MHA) programs. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS 2025) data, medical and health services managers earn a median annual salary of $117,960 per year ($56.71 per hour). Median annual wages were highest in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing ($222,350) and chemical manufacturing ($221,260).

 
Jobs for the medical and health managers market are exploding and are expected to increase 23 percent nationally between 2024 and 2034, with the addition of 142,900 positions (BLS 2025). Healthcare administrators typically have at least a bachelor’s degree, but master’s degrees are becoming increasingly common for these positions. As such, in this article, we cover online MHA programs ranked by affordability for the 2025-2026 academic year.

These rankings are based on tuition data MHAOnline.com collected in mid-2025 from over 700 online MHA programs and related graduate degrees. Tuition information is as current as possible, taken from the 2025-2026 school year numbers, as published by each school. The tuition number listed for each school represents the total estimated tuition for its entire program, and not the cost per semester or year.

Featured Affordable Online MHA Programs
Auburn University of Montgomery Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA)Visit Program Website
Purdue Global Online Master's - Health Care AdministrationVisit Program Website
Southern New Hampshire University Online MS in Healthcare AdministrationVisit Program Website
Rasmussen University MHA - Master of Healthcare AdministrationVisit Program Website
Ohio University Online Master of Health Administration (MHA)Visit Program Website
Sacred Heart University Online Master of Health Administration (MHA)Visit Program Website
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Farheen Gani
Farheen Gani
Writer

Farheen Gani has written many how-to career, online program, and scholarship guides related to master of healthcare administration degrees since 2018. Some guides she has written include online healthcare management programs, master's in regulatory science programs, and health administration scholarships. She writes about healthcare, technology, education, and marketing. Her work has appeared on websites such as Tech in Asia and Foundr, as well as top SaaS blogs such as Zapier and InVision. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter (@FarheenGani).

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