One Year Online Healthcare MBA Programs (Accelerated)

Students in this healthcare management program will take 12 credits in healthcare industry and healthcare practice management, medical law, ethics, and risk management, healthcare practice management operations, and quality and population health management. They must complete eight more core courses to graduate. Maryville does not require previous business experience, GMAT or GRE test scores, or application fees. However, students do need to complete coursework in financial accounting and economic statistics before enrolling.

• Location: St. Louis, Missouri
• Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission, Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
• Tuition: $758 per credit ($30,333 for the full 40-credit degree)
• Program length: 12 to 16 months

The George Washington University School of Business differentiates its online healthcare MBA from its on-campus program by allowing students to personalize their curriculum to align with their professional goals. Students take 12 hours of general electives from the business school, as well as 12 hours of healthcare-focused electives from other schools at the university. For these latter courses, topics include patient safety systems, the clinical research industry, and epidemiology. Students may also complete an additional certificate offered by the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences in disciplines like health care quality, integrative medicine, or clinical research. The 31.5-credit program includes two courses on global trade along with a healthcare management foundations course—unique among the schools surveyed for this guide. Along with a bachelor’s degree, the school requires the GMAT but offers waivers for applicants with at least five years of work experience. Employer reimbursement and monthly payment plans are available for tuition, although the school charges $1,000 to process an applicant’s personal statement.

• Location: Washington, DC
• Accreditation: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
• Tuition: $1,765 per credit ($97,958 for full 55.5-credit program)
• Program length: 21 months or less

Courses in Benedictine’s healthcare administration program address the business of healthcare through courses developed and taught by faculty in the school’s master of public health program. In addition to foundation and managerial coursework, the healthcare administration concentration requires three additional courses in public health systems, environmental health, marketing of public health, or the business of healthcare. Each course also includes a mini-capstone experience so that students can apply course topics to real-world health care scenarios in a controlled environment under the direct supervision of their instructor. Projects include risk assessments, semantic differential survey tool applications, strategic blueprints, and grant proposals. This Catholic university’s program requires a total of 17 courses for graduation.

• Location: Lisle, Illinois
• Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA)
• Tuition: $600 per credit ($38,400 for the full 64-credit program), but students with an educational background in business may be eligible to waive up to four foundational courses (16 credits)
• Program length: 12 to 24 months

The Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics offers two forms of healthcare emphasis within their MBA program. The first is a healthcare concentration, which requires students to take three seven-week intensives, in population health informatics, e-service management in healthcare, and patient experience and engagement. The second is a healthcare major, which requires students to complete the same intensives as those in the concentration track as well as two more courses on leadership and innovation in population health and finance for healthcare delivery. These programs require 44 credits for graduation, and students can complete the MBA degree entirely online in as few as 16 months. The college requires an undergraduate degree with a 2.8 GPA, two years of work experience, and GRE or GMAT scores. An entrance exam waiver is available based on GPA, work, and math education history.

• Location: Newark, Delaware
• Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education, AACSB International
• Tuition: $812.50 per credit ($35,750 for the full 44-credit program)
• Program length: 16 to 36 months

The UC Carl H. Lindner College of Business offers a healthcare administration concentration within its accelerated online MBA program. This concentration requires two core courses, the first on health systems administration, organization, and delivery, and the second on the economics of the healthcare marketplace. The concentration also requires two elective courses selected from topics such as health policy, health quality, and healthcare finance. The university also offers three similar online healthcare MBA programs with concentrations in operations, finance, and regulatory policy. The curriculum includes 12 credits in one of these concentrations, along with 26 credits in core courses.

• Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
• Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission, AACSB International
• Tuition: $890 per credit ($33,820 for the degree) for part-time,in-state students; $905 per credit ($34,390 for the degree) for part-time, out-of-state students; $800 per credit ($30,400 for the degree) for full-time, in-state students; $815 per credit ($30,970 for the degree) for full-time out-of-state students
• Program length: 12 to 24 months

There are several standard application requirements for students wishing to enroll in one of the programs above. These include:

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
• Competitive GPA from an undergraduate programs
• GMAT or GRE scores; can be waived for students with several years of relevant work experience
• One or two years of professional experience in a healthcare, business, finance, or technology organization
• Completion of prerequisite courses for candidates without an undergraduate business degree or business experience
• A personal statement of objectives
• Letters of recommendation
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for international students

Please note that the following three programs can’t be completed in only one year, but offer students the opportunity to complete their studies in less than two years.

Educational accreditation means that a university offers a curriculum that adheres to quality assurance standards in academic disciplines. In the United States, external private, non-profit organizations evaluate educational institutions and certify that the schools comply with applicable standards by awarding accreditation status. Below are several organizations that provide accreditation for business schools.

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

Formerly known as the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB has provided quality assurance services to accredited business schools since 1916. In general, AACSB-accredited schools have high-quality faculties, deliver relevant and challenging curricula, and provide educational and career opportunities not found at other schools. The AACSB has awarded accreditations to about 780 schools in 90 countries—mainly those affiliated with major research universities. Only about five percent of the 16,000 schools granting business degrees around the world have met the AACSB’s rigorous accreditation standards, and 90 percent of the Economist’s 2016 top full-time MBA programs are AACSB-accredited.

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)

The newer ACBSP was founded in 1989 to accredit schools, including two-year institutions like community colleges, with an emphasis on teaching instead of the research emphasis common to the AACSB-accredited institutions. The ACBSP focuses on tangible learning outcomes and quality improvement, especially as workforce demands change. About 2,983 ACBSP-accredited programs exist worldwide.

International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE)

This third agency, the IACBE, believes academic quality and excellence in business education should be measured regarding the educational outcomes of an academic business unit relative to its mission, rather than by prescriptive standards relating to academic resources.