Expand Your Impact with a Master of Health Administration (MHA)
From the type of care we receive and how we receive it to the cost of care and how we pay for it, everything about health care is changing. This constant transformation requires administrative professionals to design systems that can meet the new needs of the industry.
The online Master of Health Administration at Ohio University will give you the confidence and strategic insight to help lead health care organizations into the future. Our program provides a holistic perspective that will allow you to balance the altruistic mission of health care with the necessary business obligations to create organizations that provide excellent, affordable care without sacrificing profitability.
In addition to a well-rounded foundation in healthcare administration, you can add a specialization in one of five focus areas to create even more impact: Healthcare Leadership, Business Analytics, Project Management, Aging Studies, or Quality Improvement.
Enhance your leadership skills through a cutting-edge MHA curriculum
Enjoy the flexibility of 100% online coursework
Pursue an online MHA with no GRE required
Choose from a 1-year full-time or 2-year part-time option
Choose from five specializations and earn a certificate with your degree
Why Choose the Online Master of Health Administration Program?
Ohio University’s MHA isn’t simply a resume booster — it’s a transformative, future-focused degree that gives you the hands-on experience and theoretical framework needed to advance as an executive leader.
Our students experience an MHA curriculum that immerses them in engaging and collaborative learning environments that allow them to practice leadership strategies in curated health care contexts. Pursuing a 100% online MHA can help you expand your impact and enhance your decision-making skills without putting your career on hold, completing coursework on your schedule, not ours. By graduation, you’ll have the practical experience and theoretical knowledge to make a major impact in any health setting.
Online MHA, no GRE required
At Ohio University, we’re fiercely committed to accessibility — which is why we offer our online MHA with no GRE requirements. We understand not all students have the same opportunity to prepare for and take the GRE, and we don’t want to exclude potential students based on those inequities.
Student Achievement
2021-2022 Graduating Class
- 86% retention rate
- 98% employed or pursuing additional education within 90 days of graduation
What our students say about the online Master of Health Administration
“While in the program, I applied everything I was learning on a daily basis at my workplace. The online format was extremely conducive to my full-time work schedule. I was able to study when and where my weekly schedule allowed.”
– Brian Denton
Graduate of the Master of Health Administration online program
Ohio University’s Online Master of Health Administration Program is a candidate for accreditation through the Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). Candidate status is an indication that a program in healthcare management has voluntarily committed to participate in a plan of self-improvement and is actively progressing toward the status of accreditation. Candidate status is not accredited status and does not guarantee eventual accredited status.
What Can You Do with a Master’s in Health Administration?
Americans spent $3.8 trillion on healthcare in 2019, accounting for 17.7% of the country’s gross domestic product.* As the healthcare industry continues to grow, so does the demand for qualified professionals who possess the business acumen to manage an organization and the education to understand the field’s many policies and regulations.
Whether your goal is to work for a hospital, elder care facility, insurance company, or government organization, opportunities abound. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the employment of medical and health services managers to increase by 32% from 2020 to 2030.
Regardless of the setting you plan to work in, Ohio University’s MHA will equip you with the skills and strategies to lead meaningful change. Our MHA curriculum blends hands-on, collaborative assignments with theory-backed strategies to ensure you’re on the cutting edge of healthcare administration.
*Based on data collected by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Jobs You Can Hold:
- Clinical manager
- Health information manager
- Healthcare administrator
- Hospital administrator
- Operations manager
- Health services manager
- Medical services manager
- Healthcare executive
Places You Can Work:
- Hospitals
- Group physician practices
- Clinics
- Mental health organizations
- Rehabilitation centers
- Educational organizations
- Health insurance organizations
- Government organizations
MHA Curriculum
Our online Master of Health Administration program boasts an impressive, cutting-edge MHA curriculum that blends theoretical strategies and hands-on practical assignments in a flexible online format. This mix of practical experiences and strategic insight gives students the opportunity to immediately put their newfound skills to work in real settings — adding additional experience to their resumes that they can showcase to potential employers.
The program’s future-focused coursework explores all disciplines essential to understanding the business of healthcare. Throughout the program, you’ll take 12 seven-week courses (3 credits each). If you’d prefer to graduate sooner, Ohio University’s MHA offers a one-year, full-time option starting every fall.
A Peek at the MHA Curriculum
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MHA Requirements
Employment in the healthcare sector, particularly in administrative roles, is growing year after year, and Ohio University’s MHA is preparing graduates to meet the need for highly trained healthcare administrators.
The admission criteria for our Master of Health Administration online program ensure you and your fellow students are fully equipped, both academically and professionally, to contribute to and benefit from this challenging graduate program.
Review the information below to learn more about what you need to qualify for admission to our forward-thinking program.
Admission Requirements
- At least a bachelor’s degree in any field from a regionally accredited institution
- An overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale)
- Professional work experience in the U.S. healthcare system preferred
- One letter of recommendation
- Excellent English writing skills
- If applicable, TOEFL scores (100 iBT with 26 on the writing section) or IELTS scores (8.0 minimum across all bands)
- Goal/personal statement
- Current resume or curriculum vitae
Do you have additional questions about our admission requirements? If so, contact one of our dedicated enrollment advisors today by calling 877-823-1113.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I do with an online Master of Health Administration degree?
Professionals who have earned a master’s in health administration can work in a variety of health settings, with titles such as health system specialist, health administrator, managing director of healthcare, hospital administrator, and chief medical officer.
What is the typical salary for online Master of Health Administration graduates?
The average annual salary of employees with an MHA is $79,000 per year, according to PayScale.
Is Ohio University’s MHA program accredited?
Yes, Ohio University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and the MHA is a candidate for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education.
How long is the online Master of Health Administration degree program?
Ohio University offers one- and two-year MHA options. The one-year option is available only to students starting in the fall.
How much does the MHA program at Ohio University cost?
The online MHA program costs $25,338 for Ohio residents and $26,022 for non-residents, including books and fees.
“Highly knowledgeable and seasoned MHA faculty members leverage their incredible knowledge base to guide students in their individual career aspirations. Our dedicated faculty members bring years of industry experience and research into your online classrooms. They also bring an unwavering commitment to your success. With their guidance, the goals you aspire to achieve will soon become celebrated accomplishments.”
– Dr. Cristina Popescu, Program Coordinator
Online Master of Health Administration Faculty Q&A
Students who aspire to lead health care organizations to a better future by pursuing the online Master of Health Administration at
Ohio University learn from faculty members with rich administrative and clinical experience like Dr. Lynn Brown-Bulloch. Dr. Bulloch, who holds a master’s degree in nursing and a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), is passionate about quality, performance, and transformation in health care.
As a former member of the board of examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, formed to raise awareness of and recognize performance excellence, Dr. Bulloch has had the opportunity to see excellence in health care in action. She brings her experience and passion for performance optimization to the classroom to train the next generation of health care managers and leaders.
How has being a Baldrige examiner influenced your teaching in the MHA program at Ohio University?
My service with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program is what led me to pursue a DBA — that desire to understand high-performance organizations and how to create them. That’s what I try to impart to my students in my teaching, by providing little glimpses of high performance, what it looks like, and how we as leaders and managers develop the vision, set the strategy, create the environment, and design, manage, and improve the processes to achieve it. That’s the picture on top of the puzzle box, and everything we do should be aligning the pieces.
What health care organizations did you work with as a Baldrige examiner, and what did you learn from the experience?
I served actively with the Baldrige program for six years. As a senior examiner, I had the privilege of serving on teams with St. Luke’s Health System and Sharp HealthCare, two stellar Baldrige Award-winning organizations. I took away from the experience a passion for excellence and an understanding of what it takes to achieve it: widespread, wholehearted employee engagement. It’s a beautiful thing to behold.
What challenges and opportunities are you seeing in the field of health administration?
Tremendous challenges and tremendous opportunities await! The big challenge for health care systems today is preparing for and making the transition to value-based care, with an increasing percentage of payments based on outcomes. Challenges are also our opportunities, and value-based care is an opportunity to get health care right, where care is based on delivering the right services to the right patient at the right time in the right setting. The four walls of the hospital are coming down as health systems embrace responsibility for patient outcomes across the health care continuum, whether in the hospital or at home. In the public health arena, we are starting to see the four walls of the clinic come down as we seek to engage the community in managing social determinants of health in pursuit of health equity.
What skills will students learn in Ohio University’s MHA program that they can transfer directly to their careers?
Our students learn management and leadership skills informed by policy perspective, ethical awareness, operational management acumen, financial and business acumen, human resource management, and quality and safety management. They study organizations and practices in organizations at the C-suite level. Many of their applications of learning are in the role of the CEO or chief operating officer. These learning experiences translate to the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) core competencies that prepare graduates to serve in health care careers.
What advice would you give to students interested in pursuing an MHA degree at Ohio University?
Come on, we would love to have you! Ohio University provides a rich learning experience in health administration, including the opportunity to study best practices in award-winning organizations. You can set yourself apart in the field with competency in what it takes to develop and run a high-performance organization. You’ll enjoy learning alongside dedicated graduate students, under the guidance of seasoned facilitators who genuinely care about students and preparing you to excel in the role of health care administrator.