Health Care Administration, MHA

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About Health Care Management

The health care industry is the largest and fastest growing industry in this country. According to employment forecasters, over the next decade, eight of ten fastest growing career fields will be in health services occupations.

Health care management is a profession that utilizes administrative and managerial principles and concepts to direct the allocation of resources and delivery of services in health care organizations. Health care managers perform the same functions as managers in any other industry or field. Health care managers plan, direct, or ganize, control, and coordinate the resources of health care organizations. As integral members of the health profession, health care managers are responsible for working with the Board of Directors to create the best possible working environment for the medical staff, nurses, therapists and other clinical professionals who provide direct health care services. Additionally, they ensure that health care is provided in a cost-effective and humane manner.

The primary focus of the Division of Health Care Management is to provide comprehensive undergraduate and graduate education in health care management. Upon graduation, students are prepared for entry-level management positions in a variety of private and public settings in healthcare.

Program Description

The Master in Health Administration (MHA) degree program is designed to meet the educational needs of both traditional and non-traditional students. A minimum of forty-seven (47) credit hours, divided between the didactic and experiential component (fieldwork/residency) is required for the MHA degree. The curriculum is offered in a lock-step format with new cohorts entering the program each fall and spring semesters. Courses in finance, economics, statistics, application of research methods and quality are designed to help students develop problem-solving and decision-making skills. Management, strategy, human resources, legal aspects and organizational theory courses are included in the curriculum to provide students with the conceptual framework and operational aspects of health services administration.

Also included in the curriculum are several courses that foster students’understanding of the social, political, and economic factors affecting the delivery of health care. The integrative portion of the curriculum includes a capstone course and an administrative fieldwork/residency. Students participate in the capstone course during the final semester of didactic training. Prospective students are strongly encouraged to complete the following foundation courses prior to starting the program: Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Microeconomics, Statistics and/or Research Methods, and Computer Applications.

Program Admission Requirements

Applicants to the program must meet the minimum requirements for admission including:

An earned baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university,
A grade point average of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate work completed or a requisite combined score on the GRE.
Application to the School of Graduate Studies, application to the School of Allied Health Sciences MHA program, transcripts, GRE scores, resume, three letters of recommendation, and a personal statement. Students may be interviewed by the admissions committee.

Program Mission

Through excellence in teaching, research, and service to the community, the MHA Program utilizes a competency-based, applied curriculum in health administration, which provides students with a firm foundation to become compassionate leaders for health care and related fields.

Program Vision

The vision for the MHA Program is to be the premier academic program for graduate health administration education producing exceptional leaders for health care and related fields.

Program Values

The MHA Program holds the following core values essential to the achievement of the stated mission: Excellence; Accountability; Integrity/Ethics; Respect; Service; and Collaboration.

The Program Competencies

The program seeks to develop in students an essential understanding of the management, organization, financing, delivery, and performance of the healthcare delivery systems and services. The program also seeks to develop professional competencies that are relevant in the healthcare environment of today. These competencies are achieved through classroom-based, student-centered learning experiences such as: case analysis, in-class presentations, team activities and simulations.

The Health Leadership Alliance (HLA) Core Competencies have been identified as the set of competencies for the Program. Domains for the core and specialty competencies are outlined below.

Domain 1: Communication and Relationship Management
Domain 2: Leadership
Domain 3: Professionalism
Domain 4: Knowledge of the Healthcare Environment
Domain 5: Business Knowledge and Skills

** MHA Curriculum

Fall Admission *

Spring Admission *

Semester 1

Total Hours: 8

Semester 2

Total Hours: 10

Semester 3

Total Hours: 7-12

Semester 4

Total Hours: 9

Semester 5

Total Hours: 9

* Course offerings may vary among semesters

Health Management Capstone

The health management capstone course is a strategic health management case study that requires the student to synthesize, evaluate, and apply the theoretical, analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills to all aspects of health services administration. Capstone eligibility includes successful completion of all courses with a grade of “B” or above. In order to complete the capstone students must demonstrate the successful acquisition of critical competencies necessary for effective leadership in health services organizations. A case analysis and case presentation is used to evaluate the successful integration of all MHA course learning outcomes.

Health Management Fieldwork/Residency

The health management fieldwork/residency requirement is an integral part of the MHA curriculum. This experiential component of the program is designed for students to bridge the gap between academia and health management practice by gaining practical experience in one of a variety of health care agencies and organizations. Under the supervision of a qualified preceptor the fieldwork/residency experience benefits the student by providing an opportunity to apply management and leadership theory, management principles, and management practices.

In order to be eligible for fieldwork/residency, students must successfully complete all courses with a grade of “B” or above before they can register for this course. The fieldwork experience is conducted in the last semester of study, the semester of graduation.

Thesis Option

The Program offers a thesis option to satisfy the MHA residency/fieldwork requirement. This option must be selected upon acceptance to the Program and is not available after the first semester of study. There have been no requests for the thesis option for the past two years.

The Program follows the School of Graduate Studies Policy on thesis and dissertation guidelines. Graduate School Dissertation and Thesis Guidelines Manual can be found on the School of Graduate Studies’ website.