The healthcare field is poised to soar in new jobs by 2024, with more than 2.3 million jobs to be added by 2024, which is a 19% rate of growth. From doctors to nurses to allied health professionals, the entire health care field is on the upswing in terms of jobs and salary.
It makes sense that along with millions of new clinical healthcare jobs, there also is a growing demand for healthcare administrators. For the most part, health care administrators, as well as medical and health services managers, are going to see a similar rate of growth. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that job growth for these administrators will be 17% in the coming years.
Because of all of this healthcare growth and job demand, there has also been an increase in the number of Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) online degree programs that are available.
No GRE Needed
The high demand for healthcare administrators has caused many excellent online MHA programs to even waive their demands for taking the GRE before you are considered for admission. Because you do not have to spend a lot of time and money paying for a standardized exam, you can focus on getting your graduate education in healthcare administration that much faster.
Overview of MHA Degree
The vast majority of people who end up being employed as a health care or health administrator earn their MHA degree. It usually takes two or three years full time, and often includes a year of health care administration experience that is observed and supervised by your employer.
Generally, expect to take classes that focus on:
- Medical and healthcare terminology
- Hospital and health care facility organization
- Health information systems
- Accounting and budgeting
- HR administration
- Strategic planning
- Health economics
- Health services management
Licensure and Certification Requirements for Healthcare Administrators
Depending upon where you are working with your MHA degree, you may need to obtain your license. For nursing home administrators, most states require that you pass a national licensing examination. Some states also may mandate that you pass an exam for your specific state.
If you are going to work in a nursing home or long term health care facility, you should check about requirements in your state at the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards.
Certification as a healthcare administrator is generally not required, but you may choose to be certified by the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management, or the American College of Health Care Administrators. Having these certifications can make you more employable and capable of earning a higher salary in the long term.
Featured Online Masters in Health Administration
We recommend that you consider one or more of these online MHA degree programs:
#1 Penn State University
An online Master of Health Administration can offer you many exciting health care administration advancement possibilities. The World Campus at Penn State is partnered with the Penn State Department of Health Policy and Administration, and also the School of Public Affairs.
This highly ranked, accredited program offers you the best faculty in the country and more than 25 years of experience in offering health care administration graduate education.
This two year program is built upon the great success and reputation of the campus based MHA program that was set up in 1989. It recently was re-accredited for seven years by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management.
The majority of graduates of this MHA degree work in the following occupations:
- Health systems and hospitals
- Medical group practice
- Home health care facilities
- Outpatient care
- Insurance firms
- Consulting agencies
- Public health agencies
Required courses will include the following;
- Financing Health Care
- Introduction to Health Services Organizations and Delivery
- Leadership Ethics in Health Services Organizations
- Health Services Organizational Behavior
- Financial Management in Health Institutions
More information:
- Campus: University Park, PA; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- Tuition: $930 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 24 months
- On Campus Requirements: No
- Programs Offered: Master of Health Policy and Administration
#2 University of Cincinnati
The online Health Administration program at the University of Cincinnati will prepare you with the practical skills and knowledge that you need to be an expert in health care management, wherever you are working. This is a highly individualized program that will provide you with much better leadership competencies in healthcare administration.
Healthcare professionals of many different types have been shown over the years to benefit from this online graduate degree program:
- Patient care clinicians
- Diagnostic specialists
- Administrator
- Doctor
- Other healthcare professional
Many professionals choose the UC program because it is highly regarded on the national level, and it is designed so that full time professionals can complete it in seven semesters. The entire program may be completed online.
Your required core MHA classes include the following:
- Health Systems Management – Organization and Delivery
- Health Systems Management II – Principles of Leadership
- Healthcare Finance I and II
- Healthcare Marketplace I and II
- Health Policy and Regulation
- Legal and Ethical Issues
- Total Quality Management
- Evidence Based Decision Making for Managers
After you have completed most of your core classes, you will need to choose between these two concentrations:
- Global Health Systems
- Emerging Issues in Health Systems Management
More information:
- Campus: Cincinnati OH; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission
- Tuition: $732-747 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 7 semesters
- On Campus Requirements: No
- Programs Offered: Master of Health Administration
#3 University of Scranton
The University of Scranton has an online MHA degree program that will prepare you to meet all of the challenges that are occurring in the health care industry today. You will be provided the tools to thrive as a leader, decision maker and knowledge expert, and you can do this while getting your degree affordably and 100% online.
The Scranton program was one of the very first fully online health administration degree programs that was accredited by the CAHME, the only organization that has been specifically recognized to offer accreditation in healthcare management and administration.
Your required MHA classes include the following:
- Healthcare Organization and Administration
- Healthcare Financial Management I
- Healthcare Statistics and Research Methods
- Healthcare Services and System
- Healthcare Law
- Human Resources Management
- Healthcare Economics and Policy
- Leadership in Health Administration
- Administrative Issues
- Healthcare Planning and Marketing
- Healthcare Financial Management II
- Healthcare Operations and Quality
- Healthcare IT Management
- Healthcare Ethics
The faculty at the University of Scranton each have an expert level of knowledge in all of the classes they teach. After you complete the curriculum of 47 hours, you will be well ready to move into a health care administration leadership role.
More information:
- Campus: Scranton PA; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- Tuition: $625 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 24 months
- On Campus Requirements: No
- Programs Offered: Master of Health Administration
#4 University of Missouri
The online Health Services Management Master’s Degree at the University of Missouri is well suited for people with 3-5 years of clinical and/or administrative work in healthcare to earn their MHA degree.
The program is two years in length and has been designed for people who are both practicing managerial or clinical professionals. It features an innovative curriculum that is done mostly online, but also has weekend sessions that you complete on campus. The program allows full time working professionals to continue their work, while also getting their degree in as little as two years.
Required coursework includes the following online classes:
- Intro to the US Healthcare System
- Administration of Health Care Organizations
- Methods of Health Services Research
- Health Economics
- Managerial Epidemiology
- Decision Making for Health Care Organizations
- Health Care Law
- Health Policy and Politics
More information:
- Campus: Columbia MO; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- Tuition Per Credit Hour: $352 resident; $612 non resident
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 18 months
- On Campus Requirements: No
- Programs Offered: Health Services Management Master’s Degree; Master of Science in Health Informatics
#5 Florida Atlantic University
The MHA from Florida Atlantic University is ideal for future health administrators who want to learn all of the details of how health care regulations and administration is changing every year. People who graduate from this fully accredited program will discover how to interpret regulations and apply what they learn to the health care institution in which they work.
FAU features mandatory foundation courses, which include classes in both marketing and financial accounting. While you do not need to take these classes before you complete all of the core classes, you will need to take them as soon as you can.
This program offers both a regular MHA program and an executive MHA program, which is appropriate for a midcareer health care administration professional.
More information:
- Campus: Boca Raton FL; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- Tuition Per Credit Hour: $445
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 24 months
- On Campus Requirements: No
- Programs Offered: Executive Master of Health Administration; Master of Health Administration
Earning your online MHA degree is an excellent way to enjoy a health care career, without necessarily being involved on the clinical level. Review each of the programs that we outline above and you should be able to find an MHA degree program that suits your long term career goals.
