Can I Earn an Online Master's in Hospital Administration?
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The short answer is yes!
Hospital administrators run the business side of healthcare entities. The job titles of these professionals range from the hospital administrator, medical services manager, and healthcare executive, but the primary responsibilities remain mostly the same. Whether hospital administrators work at a healthcare network, a large medical facility, a specific clinical department, a private practice, or a group of physicians, their primary role is to lead the business side of healthcare.
Hospital administrator responsibilities include strategic outlook, operational efficiencies, and regulatory compliance so that providers can focus on giving patients the absolute best care possible.
As online education races to meet growing real-world demand for healthcare leaders, earning an online master’s in hospital administration has never been more accessible, and the programs have never been better. Students can earn two primary degrees online to obtain a graduate-level education in hospital administration: the master of healthcare administration (MHA) and the master of business administration (MBA) with a healthcare specialization.
While the admissions criteria and professional opportunities are similar for MHA and MBA programs, the primary factor when choosing one or the other is the emphasis on the healthcare industry. As a result, MHA graduates learn every nuance of the nexus between healthcare and business and put it into practice as soon as possible. In contrast, MBA graduates learn the theory and skills necessary to translate crosscutting business knowledge to various fields.
Those interested in consulting, advising, or starting a company related to the healthcare industry can opt for an MBA healthcare program. Those interested in the operations of public and private healthcare organizations can enroll in an MHA program. Simply put, an MHA is well-suited for those who are committed to a career in healthcare, and an MBA is optimal for business leaders who want to learn more about and interact with the healthcare industry more indirectly.
As Baby Boomers begin to retire, all healthcare jobs are expected to grow 16 percent in the next decade, a rate much faster than average in the United States according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 2021). By comparison, the BLS predicts careers in healthcare management will be doubly in-demand, growing at a rate of 32 percent in the same period (BLS 2021). In fact, between 2020 and 2030, healthcare facilities will need an estimated 139,600 medical and health services managers nationwide.
Additionally, CNN ranked hospital administration as one of the top ten careers in the United States according to personal satisfaction and benefit to society. Most entry-level positions require a bachelor’s degree, but having an MHA or MBA degree gives applicants a boost in qualifications, networking, and experience levels. Many of the programs featured in this article don’t require the GMAT or GRE and are designed for working professionals with no previous experience in healthcare and want to complete a degree online while working full-time.
Overall, earning a master’s in hospital administration can put professionals at the top of the stack of resumes in a market hungry for leadership talent.
| Featured Hospital Administration Programs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Arizona State University | Master of International Health Management (MIHM) - Hospital Management Track | View Full Profile |
| University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) | Online Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) | View Full Profile |
| Saint Mary's University of Minnesota | Master of Arts in Health & Human Services Administration (MN LNHA Prep) | View Full Profile |
| Maryville University | Online MHA - Senior Services | View Full Profile |
| George Mason University | Master of Health Administration in Health Systems Management | View Full Profile |
Hospital Administration: Online MHA Programs
When pursuing an online MHA, the curriculum will cover all the fundamental areas of graduate-level business—from finance to accounting, policy, marketing, and management. In addition, MHA students will work through case studies, projects, and presentations related to the healthcare industry. While the underlying concepts can be applied to other fields, graduates of an MHA program will hit the ground running, ready to not only work but lead in the healthcare industry.
These programs often connect students with working professionals in the field and offer practical experience and immersive projects so that graduates can quickly transition into leadership positions. For example, students who pursue an online master of healthcare administration are committed to working in the healthcare industry and have a broad range of professional backgrounds as healthcare providers, financial analysts, consultants, lawyers, or business executives.
Read on to explore six accredited online MHA programs.
The College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, in partnership with the University of South Wales in Sydney, offers a 100 percent online master of international health management (MIHM).
Teaching healthcare management through the lens of the global health industry, graduates are trained to lead and develop private or public healthcare institutions. The MIHM program has four learning tracks, including hospital management, health economics, health informatics, and quality improvement in healthcare.
Coursework across the four tracks in the 30-credit-hour program includes healthcare economics and financial management, the fundamentals of health informatics, economics evaluation in healthcare, and health leadership and workforce management. Admissions at ASU recommend that applicants hold a bachelor’s or a master’s in science or health service-related field (biochemistry, pre-med, health promotion, etc.). No GRE or GMAT scores are required to apply.
- Location: Tempe, Arizona
- Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
- Tuition: $815 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: One year (full-time); two years (part-time)
The online MHA program at GMU is divided into two phases: leadership in the healthcare delivery system and problem resolution and decision making. In phase one, students will study health economics, health information systems, essentials of health insurance, legal issues in health administration, and human resource management in healthcare. In phase two, courses cover statistics in health services, quantitative skills, managerial accounting in healthcare, and contemporary issues in health systems management.
As a capstone practicum, students will spend several months working with a healthcare organization to analyze a complex problem assigned by their host. The program consists of 47 credits, which students may complete online. Students must also attend a one-week immersion session on the school’s Virginia campus for the annual meeting of the Health Policy Institute, where students will meet with elected representatives, federal agency staff, and advocacy organizations and have a chance to see policymaking in action.
- Location: Fairfax, Virginia
- Accreditation: Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
- Tuition: $895 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: Two years
SNHU’s online MHA program is designed for entry- to mid-level healthcare managers. It is one of the first of its kind and remains one of the most cost-friendly. Advisory boards of healthcare professionals regularly review the curriculum and coursework to ensure that the program is on the cutting-edge of healthcare leadership. In addition, the curriculum follows standards set forth by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Health Information Management (CAHIIM).
Students will take classes on healthcare informatics, biostatistics, healthcare quality and improvement, health policy and law, economic principles of healthcare, healthcare finance and reimbursement, and leading not-for-profits. They will also learn about global health and diversity, marketing and communication strategies, the economic principles of healthcare, and strategic human resource management. The program consists of 36 credits and may be completed entirely online.
- Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
- Accreditation: Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
- Tuition: $627 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: 15 months
The University of Scranton is a Jesuit school and ranked one of the top ten master’s universities in the North by the U.S. News & World Report. The foundational classes of this MHA program explore healthcare organization and administration, healthcare financial management, healthcare statistics and research methods, and healthcare services and systems. In addition, the core courses delve into topics like healthcare law, healthcare economics and policy, healthcare IT management, healthcare ethics, and leadership in healthcare administration.
Students must choose an advanced elective from either hospital administration, medical practice administration, long-term care administration, global health management, or grant writing and management. The program consists of 47 credits and may be completed entirely online. The school also offers an online joint MBA-MHA program for students wishing to obtain the two degrees.
- Location: Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Accreditation: Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
- Tuition: $940 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: 30 months
As one of the top five schools for health policy and management, the online executive master of health administration program at USC is designed for mid-career clinical and management professionals wishing to move into leadership positions. Applicants must have at least five years of professional experience at the mid- to senior-level. Career options resulting from the program include medical and health services managers, directors and executive directors, senior managers, and vice presidents.
Students will take classes in healthcare economics, financing, and reimbursement, as well as courses in operational efficiency processes in healthcare organizations and quality of care. The program consists of 36 units, all of which can be online with two five-day sessions attended on-campus.
- Location: Los Angeles, California
- Accreditation: Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
- Tuition: $1,938 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: Two years
The online master’s in health administration (MHA) is designed for working professionals who want to pursue careers that make an impact. Students choose from three start dates for this 36-credit program and benefit from networking and experience opportunities such as the affiliation with the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), through which students receive a free membership and the opportunity to attend the annual HIMSS conference.
Graduates from this program are prepared for a wide range of leadership and management positions in healthcare, such as hospital administrator, long-term care administrator, corporate healthcare manager, admissions director, health services manager, health practice manager, or healthcare consultant.
- Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
- Tuition: $1,167 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: Two years
Hospital Administration: Online MBA Programs with Healthcare Specializations
Online MBA programs with a specialization in healthcare hone in on all components of business, management, and leadership. Students will take many graduate-level business classes—such as finance, economics, marketing, strategy, and information systems—as well as a handful of healthcare-specific classes so that they can apply the knowledge they learned throughout the curriculum to the healthcare industry.
With a healthcare MBA, professionals of all kinds, such as business consultants, financial analysts, entrepreneurs, managers, and marketing professionals, can gain a high-level education that prepares them for the business side of the country’s largest industry and second-largest employer.
Read on to explore six accredited online MBA programs with healthcare specializations.
As a Catholic college, Benedictine University is dedicated to intellectual and social teachings inspired by the principles of the Benedictine tradition. The school’s online MBA in healthcare administration offers a curriculum developed and taught by the professors who teach the master of public health (MPH), accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
The core MBA program explores ethics and leadership in a global environment, managerial economics, strategic management, and operations. The healthcare administration focus includes classes in public health systems, environmental health, marketing of public health, and the business of healthcare. Each course in the specialization track comes with its own mini-capstone experience where theory is put into practice in a real-world environment. The program consists of 64 units and may be completed entirely online.
- Location: Lisle, Illinois
- Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
- Tuition: $800 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: Two years
George Washington University’s online healthcare MBA combines an internationally recognized program with various specializations. The core classes focus on fundamental business topics such as operations management, business ethics and public policy, foundational management topics in healthcare, and financial accounting.
Elective courses are split between the healthcare focus and the general track. Additionally, students can pursue graduate certificates in clinical research administration, clinical research practice, clinical and translational research, health care quality, regulatory affairs, or health sciences—each totaling 18 credits with some credits that may overlap with the MBA program.
The graduate certificate in clinical research administration includes classes on medicine development, partners with human subjects, the clinical research industry, and monitoring clinical research. The program consists of 55.5 to 73.5 credits depending on whether students complete a graduate certification. Students may complete the program entirely online.
- Location: Washington D.C.
- Accreditation: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
- Tuition: $2,215 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: 12 to 60 months
The online MBA in healthcare at Maryville University offers a student-focused program with a flexible leadership approach. All students take nine core classes as part of the general MBA, which covers business ethics, organizational behavior and development, the legal environment of business, strategic marketing, global business, business economics, accounting for managers, and corporate financial policies.
The healthcare concentration includes four more classes on healthcare and its impact on health administration, healthcare operations, population health management, and healthcare law, ethics, and risk management. The program totals 39 credits and may be completed entirely online.
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
- Accreditation: Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
- Tuition: $714 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: One to two years
The McColl School of Business offers an online MBA with a healthcare management concentration. This program’s curriculum is based on the three C’s of leadership: character, commitment to community, and competence. The healthcare management concentration challenges students to draw together theory and practice in examining ethical challenges, healthcare law application, strategic plan development, and comprehension of employee lifecycle practices.
To support their learning, students in this program have access to an executive coach to develop a course of study and professional aims and consistently participate in 360-degree feedback models to improve their skills. This program does not require an application fee or GRE/GMAT scores and can be completed in 2.5 years.
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
- Accreditation: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
- Tuition: $1,165 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: 2.5 years
Ranked in the top 25 online MBA programs, the University of Delaware’s online MBA pairs students with a personal career coach and provides a fast-tracked education with opportunities to add further specializations.
The core curriculum involves financial reporting and analysis courses, marketing management, operations management, and ethical issues in domestic and global business environments. The healthcare concentration includes classes on population health informatics, e-service management in healthcare, patient experience and engagement, leadership and innovation in population health, and policy and finance for healthcare delivery. Students can add a second or third concentration in international business, finance, or strategic leadership.
The program totals 44 credits for a single concentration, 47 credits for a double concentration, and 53 credits for a triple concentration, which students can complete online.
- Location: Newark, Delaware
- Accreditation: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
- Tuition: $950 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: 16 to 18 months
Utica College in New York State offers a fully online 30-credit master’s degree in business administration with a health care management specialization. Regardless of specialization, all students take 15 credits required for foundation courses that provide an intensive overview of fundamental business skills such as finance, data-driven decision-making, and leadership principles.
For the health care management track, students choose 12 credits of courses such as ethical and legal issues, quality management and performance improvement in evidence-based healthcare, health informatics, and organization and development change. Students complete a three-credit-hour capstone project by applying solutions to a real-world business project to graduate. Utica College has committed not to increase tuition for the academic year 2020-2021.
- Location: Utica, New York
- Accreditation: Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
- Tuition: $700 per credit
- Expected Time to Completion: One to two years
