Master’s in Healthcare Degree Programs in Georgia

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Updated on July 19, 2022
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The best way to open up a promising, long-term career in the healthcare industry is to pursue one of the master's in healthcare degree programs in Georgia. These programs have been specifically designed for graduate-level students who bring the right combination of undergraduate studies and real-world experience in today's clinics, hospitals, and urgent care centers. Each program is designed to give students the proper balance of business education and experience, healthcare education, and the skills needed to make quick decisions about everything from patient care to hiring, budgetary concerns to long-term strategic plans. Whether part of an MBA program or crafted as a standalone degree option, each of the programs presented here can open new doors for aspiring healthcare leaders and help them make sound decisions for the future of patient care. Thinking about an online degree? Check out our latest rankings.
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Armstrong Atlantic State University

College of Health Professions

Armstrong Atlantic State University is ranked near the top of America's Tier Two institutions when it comes to educating students in the health professions. A large part of the school's high ranking comes from its commitment to doctoral faculty members. Unlike other schools, Armstrong does not use graduate students or adjuncts in its graduate-level programs. As a result, its MPH and MHSA degrees give students the right combination of practical classroom knowledge and valuable industry insight that can be valuable as they seek increase responsibility in a healthcare organization. The College of Health Professions does engage in limited academic research and encourages students to assist professors as they seek a better understanding of modern concerns in public health, management, and more.

Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA)

The healthcare industry is both large and fast-growing, which means the leaders of tomorrow need to be prepared to manage everything from a growing number of family care clinics to massive public hospitals. That's where the MHSA degree at Armstrong Atlantic comes in. The curriculum of this degree program teaches graduate students the basic structure of clinics, hospitals, emergency care units, and specific disease treatment centers. They learn the ethics of healthcare decisions and they understand how to make decisions in a leadership role as it pertains to patient outcomes, budgets, public funding, and related concerns. Students in this program will also learn how the government's resources can be used or petitioned in order to server certain patient demographics or certain diseases. By the conclusion of the program, graduates will be prepared for both junior-level and senior-level leadership of virtually any treatment facility or healthcare organization in the country.

Master of Public Health (MPH)

The Master of Public Health degree at Armstrong Atlantic is designed primarily for students who majored in the field as an undergraduate, though applicants have been admitted in the past with backgrounds ranging from biology to anatomy and nursing. To prepare students for leadership roles in government organizations, the MPH program focuses on common diseases, the role of public health practitioners in communities where healthcare is hard to afford or reach, and the role of federal policymaking when determining outreach programs, agency budgets, and more. Students who graduate with the degree will know how to make strategic public health plans, handle disease outbreaks and widespread public health concerns, and leverage the power of government resources to educate and treat the public in order to reduce the overall cost of both disease and treatment. Accreditation
  • Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)
  • Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
  • Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC)
Contact Armstrong Atlantic State University College of Health Professions 11935 Abercorn St. Savannah, GA 31419 Phone: (912) 344-2576 Email: adm-info@armstrong.edu Website: http://www.armstrong.edu/health_professions/health_sciences/healthsciences_master_of_public_health

Clayton State University

College of Business

The College of Business is AACSB-accredited and offers one of the best MHA programs in the country. The school, in fact, serves such a large population of future healthcare leaders that its name has become nationally recognized within the healthcare and disease treatment industries. Students will get an appropriate dose of both business management education and health care administration courses, which is appreciated as the kind of curriculum that can make students effective leaders and versatile professionals. Research activities do take place on campus, and students are encouraged to participate as part of their graduate-level coursework. The university does use graduate students to teach a limited number of undergraduate courses through assistantships, which can help students build their resume and afford the cost of graduate tuition as they proceed through the program.

Master of Health Administration

The focus of the Clayton State program in health administration is to create action-oriented leaders who thoroughly understand the nature of healthcare leadership and policy decisions. To that end, all students are required to become proficient in making ethical care decisions that align with state and federal policies governing patient treatment, efficiency and affordability of care, and accessibility of that care to all groups. Students will also learn the basics of healthcare leadership structure at all levels, and they will learn how various leaders and departments shape the cost, nature, and accessibility of healthcare to both children and adults. Legal and ethical issues are extensively covered, as are emerging technologies and the role of electronic tools in delivering more effective patient care in today's society. Accreditation
  • Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC)
  • Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
Contact Clayton State University College of Business 2000 Clayton State Blvd. Morrow, GA 30260 Phone: (678) 466-4931 Email: mhainfo@clayton.edu Website: http://www.clayton.edu/mha

Georgia Southern University

College of Public Health

Georgia Southern is typically ranked near the top of the list for research universities and is almost always called a great value by publications like U.S. News and World Report, the Princeton Review, and Forbes. The College of Public Health leverages the power of affordable tuition, doctoral faculty members, and on-campus research to provide future healthcare leaders with the tools they need to gain intensive, hands-on experience in their eventual field of employment. Collaborative learning environments and practical labs are a key part of virtually every graduate-level course for this reason. The department also oversees graduate job fairs and networking events that contribute to its elevated rate of post-graduation job placement for those who finish the MHA program.

Master of Healthcare Administration

As at virtually all schools where an MHA degree is offered, the program at Georgia Southern is primarily concerned with giving students the tools they need to make effective leadership decisions. For this reason, the program is perhaps most similar to an MBA with a healthcare concentration. Students will learn about the unique budgetary, financial, and economic issues of modern patient care. They will take courses that emphasize the ethical issues of treatment and the public policies that govern how hospitals are funded, governed, and regulated. Students in this program will also learn about legal issues and ethics in the field, from HIPAA procedures to patient care decisions and the family's role in treatment. By the completion of the degree, students should be able to tackle the financial, legal, ethical, and policy issues that determine how care is delivered, how much that care costs, and to whom that care is available. Accreditation
  • Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC)
  • Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)
Contact Georgia Southern University College of Public Health P.O. Box 8015 Statesboro, GA 30460 Phone: (912) 478-2674 Email: jphcoph@georgiasouthern.edu Website: http://jphcoph.georgiasouthern.edu/degrees/mha/

Georgia State University

Institute of Health Administration

The Institute of Health Administration at Georgia State University is one of the most extensive institutions for future leaders in the healthcare world. The school oversees programs in health administration, business administration, and combined programs that merge these two related fields of study. The institute is also deeply involved in scholarly research into the issues that shape modern healthcare decisions. Professors on-campus routinely look into how the Affordable Care Act alters the delivery and affordability of care, and they study social issues that affect the spread of disease, treatment of those diseases, and how different groups are able to seek treatment for common ailments. Students are encouraged to take part in these research activities in on-campus labs and clusters, and they're given opportunities to teach undergraduate courses as a way to share their findings with others on the school's sprawling campus.

Combined MBA/MHA

The great thing about business and healthcare administration is that they share a common set of skills that is useful in both health and business offices. Students need to know advanced information about accounting, economics, finance, mathematics, and management, in order to make sound decisions on behalf of their clients or patients. For this reason, it's easy to combine the two programs and graduate with a dual degree. Students take a shared core of several classes that both degrees require, and then add on roughly six courses each in healthcare and business administration. At the conclusion of the program, students receive two degrees and have learned the skills necessary to make sound, quick decisions in a healthcare organization or within a corporate environment.

Master of Science in Health Administration

The pure M.S. in Health Administration program at Georgia Southern removes the business core discussed earlier and focuses strictly on the skills needed to run a hospital or smaller clinic. Students take courses that emphasize public policy and its role in the health organization, and they learn what's required in order to make ethical decisions regarding funding, patient treatment, accessibility and emergency care. Those who choose the MHA program at Georgia Southern will also benefit from ongoing research on campus that helps to explain the effects of recent federal reforms to healthcare regulation and delivery. Outcomes of this program include the ability to properly account for patient care and create a budget, the ability to secure federal funding or community support for ongoing expenditures, and the ability to lead a team of professionals toward better patient outcomes over the long-term.

Master of Business Administration

The Georgia Southern MBA strips out the healthcare education and gives students traditional courses in advanced management, accounting, economics, finance, and communication. The MBA's extensive core of courses, along with electives in a variety of fields, is actually appropriate for leadership of a healthcare organization. Students can still elect to take some of the MHA courses as electives, which will give them the necessary background in federal regulations, public policy, and how leadership decisions directly affect patient care. Accreditations
  • Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
  • Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC)
Contact Georgia State University Institute of Health Administration P.O. Box 3965 Atlanta, GA 30302 Phone: (404) 413-2000 Email: onestopshop@gsu.edu Website: http://healthadmin.robinson.gsu.edu/academic-programs/mba-mha/

Herzing University

Department of Business Administration

Wisconsin's Herzing University is a national leader in online and distance education, and that means students in its MBA program will enjoy the rigor of graduate-level coursework along with the convenience of online instruction. The school's online program gives students interaction with fellow professionals and professors through the use of online discussion boards, webcams, video conferencing, electronic assignments, and collaborative online labs that leverage cutting-edge technologies. Thanks to an extensive history in the industry and plenty of offline connections, students will enjoy great networking opportunities after graduation.

Master of Business Administration/Healthcare Management

Those looking to enter the healthcare administration industry will be guided toward Herzing's MBA, with a concentration in healthcare management. This requires students to take all of the core MBA classes required of all graduate students in this track. Advanced managerial accounting, economics, corporate finance, and strategic organization will be required of students prior to graduation. The concentration in healthcare management will see Herzing MBA students focus on healthcare leadership, ethical guidelines and federal regulations, and the skills needed to make managerial decisions within larger hospitals and smaller clinics. Accreditation
  • Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC NCA)
Contact Herzing University Department of Business Administration 525 North Sixth Street Milwaukee, WI 53203 Phone: (800) 596-0724 Website: http://www.herzing.edu/career-programs/graduate-degrees/mba/mba-healthcare-management

South University, Savannah

Department of Management

Founded as a practical business school in the 19th century, South University is a leader in distance education that has a respected name throughout the country. The school is fully regionally accredited and offers a unique MBA program that combines management with a strong area of concentration. Courses are taught by seasoned management professionals from all around the country, with an emphasis on group learning and collaborative problem solving. The school's program prepares students for a variety of health-related and corporate management roles at all levels.

MBA in Healthcare Administration

Students start out by taking courses that focus on strategic management and human resources, along with managerial accounting, advanced financial analysis, and economic decision-making. Beyond the MBA core, students will then proceed to the core courses required by the healthcare administration concentration. This includes learning about the legal and ethical environment of hospitals and clinics, the unique financial considerations of the healthcare manager, and the nature of decision-making when it affects patients and is regulated by both state and federal policy. By the end of the program, South's graduations will be ready to lead hospitals and large businesses alike. Accreditation
  • Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC)
  • Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
Contact South University, Savannah Department of Management 709 Mall Blvd. Savannah, GA 31406 Phone: (912) 201-8000 Website: http://online.southuniversity.edu/degrees/mba-healthcare-administration.aspx There is perhaps nothing more important than competent, efficient leadership in today's healthcare environments. Whether it's a large hospital or a smaller family clinic, leaders need to be prepared to make fast decisions, quick judgments, and dedicated long-term plans to bolster care, reduce expenses, and connect with the public. The numerous master's in healthcare degree programs in Georgia provide the right skills to make that possible for all of today's most dedicated students. Related Resource: Choosing a Career Path in Healthcare Administration

BestColleges.com is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

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