Online Master of Health Administration

Expand Your Impact with an Online Master of Health Administration

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.

Enhance leadership skills through a cutting-edge curriculum

Enjoy the flexibility of 100% online coursework

No GRE required

Choose from a 1-year full-time or 2-year part-time option

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.

What our students say about the online Master of Health Administration

Denton

“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, MHA online graduate

Explore MHA Student Success Stories

OHIO’s Master of Health Administration Program is a candidate for accreditation through the (CAHME).

Candidate status is an indication that a program in health care 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 health care in 2019, accounting for 17.7% of the country’s gross domestic product.* As the health care industry continues to grow, so does the demand for qualified professionals who possess both 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 health care 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

Average salaries for careers in health administration.

The average salary for master’s in health administration graduates is $79,000. Here are seven health administration careers and their average salaries: health information manager ($59,400); operations manager ($65,000); clinical manager ($72,300); healthcare administrator ($72,900); hospital administrator ($87,200); medical and health services manager ($104,280); and hospital CEO ($153,800).

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 health care. 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

Show / Hide Course Descriptions

HLTH 6010	Introduction to the U.S. Health Care Delivery System	3 Credits
This course focuses on how the U.S. health services system is organized, the internal and external forces on the system, as well as how system services are delivered and financed.

HLTH 6020	Information Systems for Health Services	3 Credits
This survey and analysis of healthcare information systems planning and leadership prepares health administrators to communicate productively with information technology and clinical professionals. The course explores the challenges of selecting and implementing information systems to achieve organizational mission. The course focuses on how and from whom health administrators should gather information and judge its veracity. It also considers other organizational data and issues that go into selection decisions and implementation plans. Attention to various stakeholders and how to manage their impact on IT projects.

HLTH 6030	Leadership of Health Organizations	3 Credits
This course examines leadership concepts as they apply specifically in healthcare organizations. Topics such as managing change, intra-organizational communication, and high-level decision making are included. The course focuses on building skills to sort through and make sense of the plethora of information available in making judgment calls. Focusing on leadership, the course goes well beyond management, helping students recognize, build on and enhance their own skills and increase their adaptability. Like other Ohio University MHA courses, this one also stresses the importance of identification, empathy and communication with relevant stakeholders.

HLTH 6040	Research and Quantitative Methods for Health Services	3 Credits
This course focuses on the value of various research methods and resulting data for running an efficient and effective organization. The course focuses on development of skills to be good consumers of research information. The course acknowledges that most health administrators will not be designing and running research projects but that they must be able to communicate with researchers in a variety of disciplines. They must be able to recognize quality research protocols and select findings that can complement data from other disciplines in leadership decision making.

HLTH 6080	Health Policy	3 Credits
Exploring health policy from a systematic approach; linking public health and health care issues to policy processes. Examination of policy formation, individuals, organizations, and systems involved in this processes; in relation to various issues in population health, health promotion, and health care delivery.

HLTH 6002	Evaluation and Quality Improvement in Health Care	3 Credits
The purpose of this course is to acquaint the student with the fundamentals of health promotion program evaluation and research methods related to behavioral science and health education. Although the course emphasizes general evaluation and research methodology, specific health program and health policy applications are used as illustrations.

HLTH 6210	Health Care Finance	3 Credits
This course addresses essential financial administration tools and concepts needed to maintain health care organization viability. The course increases students’ ability to discuss with financial professionals various data like financial statement and cost analysis, budgeting, asset pricing models, and valuation methods among others. The course provides practice in consolidating and weighing financial information with data from many other disciplines in making leadership decisions. Attention is also given to the health administrator’s need to translate financial information for other stakeholders whose functions are affected and whose cooperation is needed.

HLTH 6280	Health Law	3 Credits
This course delves into the relationship between the legal and health care systems, including the roles and rights of key stakeholders of the U.S. health care system.

HLTH 6300	Epidemiology in Health Administration	3 Credits
This course is an overview and analysis of epidemiological principles that provide the basis for setting priorities, allocating scarce healthcare resources, and preventing disease. It recognizes that the health administrator needs to understand information from clinical professionals in making leadership decisions to manage health services to protect health.

HLTH 6350	Human Resource Management in Health Care	3 Credits
This course deals with the practical aspects of human resource leadership in various healthcare settings. Leadership of the human capital in healthcare is challenging because the industry is labor-intensive, has a diverse workforce, and is involved with life-and-death work. This course focuses on the role of the health administrator in working with and through the human resources department to align HR strategy with organizational strategy, to assure well-being of employees, and to assure competitive position.

HLTH 6380	Strategic Planning and Marketing in Health Services	3 Credits
This last course in the MHA program, taps learning from every other course in a real-life strategic analysis of a health care organization in transition. The course focuses on key processes in planning and delivering health care to the community, such as needs assessment, feasibility studies, strategic marketing design, and implementation and evaluation strategies and methods. This course is an application exercise simulating activities healthcare administrators engage in daily, pulling information from various sources and recombining it for decision making. It is a practical, interesting, exciting, and informative culmination for the MHA program.

HLTH 6480	Ethical Issues in Health Care	3 Credits
This course examines the impact of ethical issues on leadership decision making. It explores dominant ethical theories and principles relevant to every aspect of health care leadership. Both clinical and organizational ethical issues are considered along with communication and stakeholder strategies.

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 that 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. health care 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)

Do you have additional questions about our admission requirements? If so, contact one of our dedicated enrollment advisors today by calling 1-877-823-1113.

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 health care, hospital administrator, and chief medical officer.

What is the typical salary for online Master of Health Administration graduates?

According to PayScale, the average salary for employees with an MHA is $79,000 per year.

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.

We’re in the Business of Shaping Leaders

Kristen Schuller 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.

– Kristin Schuller, Program Coordinator

Meet your MHA Faculty