Online MS in Health Science Programs - MSHS Degrees

The online master of science in health science (MSHS) degree from George Washington focuses on healthcare quality. It also offers MSHS programs in integrative medicine and correctional health, among others. It was designed to prepare students for research and management positions in healthcare organizations. On successful completion of the program, graduates can evaluate and develop quality healthcare initiatives, measure and analyze data, and conduct research for better decision-making. The program is designed for working professionals who wish to cover a rigorous curriculum from a distance.

Notably, the MSHS course was created in partnership with the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and it includes core health science topics such as building a quality culture, quality improvement science in healthcare, and patient safety systems. Students also get an overview of health information, quality and outcomes, topics in healthcare leadership, and the healthcare enterprise. Through these specialized courses, students review issues surrounding healthcare, processes of quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives.

The practical skills acquired in the course can open up several doors for graduates in public and private healthcare. They can work in clinical research, data management, and analysis. Graduates have gone into roles such as clinical director, healthcare quality analyst, quality assurance consultant, and healthcare administration manager.

• Location: Washington DC
• Expected Time to Completion: Two years
• Estimated Tuition: $1,040 per credit
• Accreditation: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Bellarmine offers a completely online master’s of health science degree. It consists of a core curriculum in health science along with a specialization in either health promotion and social change or healthcare leadership.

Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0. The 30-semester-credit program teaches students how to use findings from science and humanities to improve healthcare, develop leadership and decision-making skills, and evidence-based methods. The core courses include health policy, current trends and issues in health, bioethics, and communication and technology in health.

If students opt for the healthcare leadership track, they get a chance to explore healthcare systems organization and administration, patient safety, and issues in healthcare leadership. This subfield preps students for management-level roles in healthcare.

On the other hand, the health promotion and social change track includes instruction in health behavior theory, community wellness, program evaluation and statistics, and designing and planning health promotion programs. Students completing the program learn how to analyze environmental effects on health, quality of life across the world, and social changes. At the end of the program, they may be well-versed in promoting a healthy lifestyle and policy-making.

• Location: Louisville, Kentucky
• Expected Time to Completion: Two years
• Estimated Tuition: $770 per credit
• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

This professional degree from Cleveland State University prepares students for roles in clinical, educational, and administrative healthcare. The program is well-suited for working professionals or those who have a bachelor’s degree in healthcare and wish to advance.

Comprising 36 credits, the program includes five core courses, three electives, three health science-focused courses, and one capstone research project. Students gain an understanding of leadership in health sciences, evolving technologies in healthcare, occupational/physical therapy in schools, environmental health, human anatomy, and pathology.

The MSHS degree can also be combined with Cleveland University’s myriad graduate certificate programs, including the advanced study in bioethics, healthcare administration, culture, communication and healthcare, and gerontological studies. These courses can equip students with specialized knowledge and skills.

• Location: Cleveland, Ohio
• Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
• Estimated Tuition: $1,002.60 per credit
• Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission

Florida Gulf Coast University’s online MSHS program is for students who wish to take up advanced professional roles in healthcare. The 36-credit program requires a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Students learn how to teach and train students, healthcare consumers, and clients, as well as how to develop a curriculum, plan lessons, and design assignments. Overall, this curriculum trains students to become clinical educators of health professionals at universities, community colleges, diagnostic corporations, and technical schools.

The health science-focused courses in the program include the legal and ethical aspects of healthcare, research in health professions, health policy and economic issues, and human resource management for healthcare managers. Upon completion of the MSHS program, students may be well-equipped to analyze healthcare problems, evaluate legal issues, interpret data, and formulate solutions.

• Location: Fort Myers, Florida
• Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
• Estimated Tuition: $373.38 per credit
• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

The online MS in health sciences program by Georgia State University offers a specialization in nutrition. The curriculum aims to enable students to research problems, evaluate results, and take up professional roles in the field.

The health sciences core includes courses such as trends affecting health policies, practices, and laws; leadership and ethics in healthcare; and research methods for health and human science professions. The nutrition coursework provides an overview of research methods and issues in the field of nutrition, including nutritional intervention, nutritional genomics, and advanced topics in nutrition.

There are also elective courses that students can choose after consulting the graduate program director. They can opt to do a thesis or pursue a non-thesis option (e.g., a master’s project). Please note that the non-thesis option includes additional courses in pediatrics, public health, and sports.

• Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• Expected Time to Completion: 36 credits (two years)
• Estimated Tuition: $15,108 per semester
• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

The UT Rio Grande Valley MSHS program is an online degree with a specialization in clinical laboratory services. This program is tailormade for certified medical laboratory scientists and medical technologists looking to move up in their careers.

While the program is focused on laboratory medicine, it also includes lessons on management and leadership that can boost a lab technician to a middle management position in hospitals or laboratories. Graduates may pursue consulting positions in private labs or physicians’ offices or teach in medical laboratory science programs at universities.

The program explores fundamental concepts such as healthcare policy, organization and financing, and legal and ethical issues in healthcare, as well as professional proposal writing. Students gain an insight into the working of healthcare organizations. The clinical laboratory sciences track includes topics such as the pathophysiology of disease, advanced practice in clinical chemistry, and advanced clinical practice in hematology. The program also includes laboratory techniques and research methods.

Overall, this MSHS can equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in a career in diagnostics, pathology, research, or medical lab technology.

• Location: Rio Grande, Texas
• Expected Time to Completion: One year
• Estimated Tuition: $444.44 per credit
• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

This online master of science in health science program is meant for health professionals such as personal trainers, certified athletic trainers, physical educators, and strength coaches. The program offers a specialization in two tracks: sports performance and rehabilitative science. Individuals with professional experience in sports performance, healthcare, or occupational performance are given a preference in admissions.

The degree comprises 33 credits, including three thesis credit-hours. Students opting for the sport performance track are trained in exercise science, focusing on strength and conditioning. The rehabilitative science track explores research methods for evidence-based practice, injury prevention and recognition, and applications of strength and conditioning. This track helps students understand sports nutrition, exercise physiology, and management. Those interested in a career in athletic training or physical therapy should pursue this track.

At the end of the degree, students may have the necessary knowledge and skills to design preventative sports injury programs and manage musculoskeletal injuries, among other abilities.

• Location: Provo, Utah
• Expected Time to Completion: 20-24 months
• Estimated Tuition: $690 per credit
• Accreditation: Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences offers an online, part-time MS in academic health science program. It is designed for healthcare professionals who wish to pursue or advance their careers as health educators. Notably, the program is taught by health professionals with impressive backgrounds.

The program consists of courses in academic health sciences; adult learning theory and clinical teaching; educational leadership; and healthcare research methods. Upon successful completion of the program, students may be well-equipped to translate theoretical concepts, promote excellence in teaching, and form a strong link between education, research, and practice.

Students graduating from the program tend to pursue leadership roles in training programs related to public health, medicine, and nursing. They can serve as training directors, faculty members, department chairs, curriculum coordinators, or continuing education professionals.

• Location: Boston, Massachusetts
• Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
• Estimated Tuition: $1235 per credit
• Accreditation: New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc.

At Northern Kentucky University, students can complete an online master’s of science in health science in just 24 months. This comprehensive, flexible, and efficient program allows working professionals the opportunity to complete further education without relocating or quitting their jobs. Elective courses in education or management allow students to tailor their coursework to their interests.

Core coursework all students must complete include class such as research methods, trends, and culture in healthcare, healthcare policy and economics, and statistics for researchers. In order to graduate from this program, students must complete both a capstone and an internship. Admission requirements include a 2.5 GPA in undergraduate coursework, a professional resume, a letter of intent including career goals, and an undergraduate statistics course.

• Location: Highland Heights, KY
• Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
• Estimated Tuition: $536 per credit
• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)

The online master’s in science in health sciences at Cleveland State University’s School of Health Sciences is highly customizable. The 36 required semester-hours consist of twelve hours in core courses, nine hours in an emphasis, 12 hours of electives, and a final three hours in a capstone project. The emphasis coursework is on topics directly related to health sciences while the electives can be from any department across campus. The capstone project can be a non-thesis or thesis.

Completing this program is intended for healthcare professionals can help them advance their careers, pursue promotions, or simply perform better in their current roles. Courses are offered online or in the evenings and allow students to continue working while earning their degree. To be eligible for admission candidates must already hold a bachelor’s degree with a 2.75 GPA, provide a personal statement, supply GRE test scores, submit three letters of recommendation, and complete an online application.

• Location: Cleveland, OH
• Expected Time to Completion: Two years
• Estimated Tuition: $972 per credit
• Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission, HLC

Students with an interest in working with aging populations should consider the master’s in health sciences in gerontology at Rutgers School of Health Professions. This fully online program emphasizes evidence-based research with specialized courses in aging and health. Elective courses such as nutrition, leadership, and mental health allow students to customize their education.

While most students complete their entire degree through this program, the gerontology courses are also offered as a stand-alone certificate for students who already hold an MSHS. Graduates of this program will be able to communicate effectively with aging populations, think critically about aging issues, utilize evidence-based research when making decisions about care for aging patients, and understand aging as a complex biological, emotional, and psychological process.

• Location: Newark, NJ
• Expected Time to Completion: Two years
• Estimated Tuition: $775 per credit
• Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)

The Saint Francis University School of Health Science and Education was one of the first schools in the country to offer an online master’s in science in health sciences. The mission of this program is to positively impact the healthcare industry by producing students who are passionate and have strong leadership skills. The required 30 semester credit hours can be completed in a flexible format and at a student’s own pace as all classes are taught asynchronously. Most students graduate in just 18 months.

There are two specialty tracks in this program: health education and health leadership. Students can complete both tracks, but it will require more time than a single-track program. At the end of their studies, students are required to complete a capstone experience where they identify an unmet need in healthcare and then develop a solution to the problem with measurable outcomes.

• Location: Loretto, PA
• Expected Time to Completion: 18 months
• Estimated Tuition: $675 per credit
• Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)

There are four concentrations students can choose from in the online masters in science in health sciences at Western Carolina University’s College of Health and Human Sciences. They are emergency medical care, health education, health management, and nutrition. The program is designed for professionals already working in healthcare administration, health education, or clinical practice. Earning this degree will help professionals move into leadership roles in their jobs or apply for more senior positions.

Admission requirements include an undergraduate degree with a 3.0 GPA or higher, three letters of recommendation, GRE scores, and a goal statement. Students who have already earned a graduate degree or have an undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or higher can apply for a GRE waiver.

• Location: Cullowhee, NC
• Expected Time to Completion: Two years
• Estimated Tuition: $756.72 per credit
• Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges