20 Best Bachelor’s in Healthcare Management

A lot of schools aim to offer flexible online programs for professional students, then there’s Utah-based Western Governors University. As its website says, “You’re not committed to attend class at a certain time, complete homework on a given schedule, or log ‘attendance’ hours.” 

Healthcare management majors go through the material at their own pace, complete an assessment to pass a course, then move onto the next one. The healthcare management degree is completed online, and most students finish within 30 months. 

Western Governors University offers healthcare management as a concentration within a broader BS in business administration. Each of the concentrations within the BS takes the same four courses covering the basics of business. Students on the healthcare management track then focus on topics like: 

• Business skills
• Delivery systems
• Operations management
• Human resource management
• Research and statistics
• Financial resource management

The online healthcare administration degree concludes with a capstone project.

The entire healthcare management bachelor’s degree online consists of 41 courses, though students typically enter the program with 34 transfer credit hours. Much of the basic general-education requirements can be satisfied that way. 

In keeping with its flexible approach, WGU has minimal barriers to entry for its program: Students need only have a high school diploma, along with transcripts of any other coursework.

The University of Central Florida lies in Orlando, FL, presumably in the four square blocks that aren’t part of an amusement park or tourist attraction. Maybe that’s why UCF offers its BS in health services administration online, because who wants to deal with that traffic?

Prospective students located near Orlando can still complete their coursework on campus, and their online counterparts will discover that not all electives or prerequisite courses are available on their computers (but all of the degree coursework is). 

The 120-credit online healthcare administration degree features: 

• 36 credit hours of general education requirements
• Nine credit hours of common program prerequisites 
• 48 credit hours of degree coursework
• A three-hour capstone (analyzing an existing healthcare organization)
• Electives

Healthcare management degree classes cover topics like: 

• Financial management
• U.S. healthcare systems
• Epidemiology
• Law and ethics
• Technology
• Research methods

Students also complete an internship while in this online program.

North Carolina’s so-called “Research Triangle” of Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill—home to Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State University, respectively—gets all of the attention. 

However, there’s also East Carolina, which lies in Greenville and has plenty to offer—and it was good enough for the likes of alumni Sandra Bullock and Vince McMahon.

East Carolina’s Bachelor of Science in health services management is a hybrid program using online and on-campus classes. Full-time students work as cohorts to maximize collaborative possibilities. The healthcare management degree requires 124 credit hours and offers two concentrations: 

• One for working, credentialed practitioners (allied health management)
• The other for more traditional students (regular ol’ health services management)

Students in the former may earn up to 30 credit hours for prior training. 

ECU offers plans of study for both paths. Traditional students focus on general-education requirements their first couple of years before diving into the degree work. The working professional track presumes prior coursework covered the gen-ed material. The healthcare management degree covers the usual topics like: 

• Delivery systems
• Ethics
• Human resources
• Healthcare organizations
• Finance
• Marketing

Admission to ECU is pretty typical, requiring transcripts and ACT or SAT scores. The bachelor’s degree requires 33 hours of foundation curriculum with a minimum 2.5 GPA before degree work can begin.

Like other universities on our list, Cal State Long Beach blends management courses with healthcare in the curriculum for its healthcare administration degree.  But it designs its electives to provide specialized instruction for concentrations within the degree, such as: 

• Long-term care administration
• Hospital management
• Managed care
• Medical group practice management

Most of the healthcare administration courses that make up the 120 semester units required to graduate are offered in the late afternoon or evening for working students. Included in the degree are 13-14 units of prerequisites in topics like statistics, biology, physiology, and more. 

Major course requirements cover topics like: 

• Personnel management
• The healthcare system
• Risk management
• Healthcare organizations
• Financial management

Healthcare administration majors will also complete a pair of internships working 120 clock hours at other healthcare organizations. 

There are also nine credits of upper-division coursework, electives, and something called the graduation writing assessment requirement, or GWAR, because the faculty at Cal State Long Beach are secretly fans of the long-running, costumed rock outfit.

Admission requirements vary by true freshmen (i.e., no college prior coursework) or transfers (who have completed some courses, but not a degree). Freshmen need a high school diploma and ACT/SAT scores. Transfers need: 

• At least a 2.0 GPA in prior coursework
• A certain number of hours
• Good standing with their last college

Auburn University’s bachelor’s health services administration is the oldest such program in Alabama, and it was the first in the state to be accredited by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration. 

The university itself ranks No. 93 in National Universities by U.S. News and World Report, and counts Tim Cook among its long list of alumni. So prospective students should know that Auburn offers one of the best healthcare management degrees in the country!

Students complete at least 30 credit hours of general education and prerequisite coursework (with a minimum 2.3 GPA) ahead of applying to the program, which gets going junior year. Healthcare management courses include: 

• Health Care Policy
• Principles of Management
• Strategic Planning
• Developing Care Organizations
• Health Information Technology

There’s also a required internship for six credit hours and a capstone seminar during the final semester.

Students who have completed more than 30 hours of college coursework qualify as transfers and need only transcripts with a 2.5 GPA for admission. Freshman students with little or no college coursework need the full package of: 

• High school transcripts
• ACT or SAT scores
• A personal essay

Describing its bachelors in healthcare management as “challenging and rewarding,” the University of Alabama at Birmingham also aims for specificity. The degree offers four tracks: 

• General manager (for students looking for leadership positions)
• Clinical manager (for people who are already credentialed or licensed)
• Pre-professional (for students aiming for a professional or graduate program)
• Long-term care administration (for students who want to pursue a career in that field)

The healthcare management degree requires 86-95 hours of required courses, beginning with prerequisites in topics like accounting, finance, and public speaking. Required healthcare management courses cover topics like: 

• Healthcare Systems
• Healthcare Organizations
• Strategic Management in Health Care Organizations
• Financial Management in Health Care Organizations

Admission requires transcripts and ACT or SAT scores, and all students begin on the general manager track until they meet with an advisor to discuss a healthcare professional concentration. Certain concentrations, like a clinical manager, require students to have their licenses. 

Unlike other programs, UAB students apply for the bachelor’s degree in HCM when they apply to the university.

James Madison University sits in Harrisonburg, VA, in the state’s verdant Shenandoah Valley—130 miles west of Washington D.C. The city was the first designated Arts & Cultural District and the first Culinary District in Virginia, and it’s home to the Virginia Quilt Museum if you get chilly.

If your goal is to become a healthcare manager, check out JMU. This university offers a 120-hour BS in health services administration through its Department of Health Professions. The health services administration degree program requires: 

• 40 credit hours of general education courses
• Six credit hours of quantitative and scientific literacy courses
• 74 credit hours of major coursework

Undergraduate students dip their toes into health services administration their sophomore year with the Introductory U.S. and Global Healthcare Systems, before diving in their junior year with courses covering areas like: 

• Gerontology
• Marketing
• Healthcare finance
• Statistics

Their senior year includes an internship, among other courses.

Students apply to the program their sophomore year with a personal statement. Getting into JMU itself is pretty easy, as the school just needs transcripts.

George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, offers three concentrations within its BS in healthcare administration degree: 

• Health systems management
• Assisted living/senior housing administration (the first such program in the nation)
• Health informatics

The first is designed to prepare students to work in a variety of healthcare organizations, whereas the second focuses on assisted and senior living. Health informatics is more tech-minded, preparing “graduates in theory and methods for using information processing methods,” per the university’s website.

Regardless of the concentration, the healthcare administration degree requires 120 credits: 

• 38 of “Mason core” (communication, IT, arts, etc.)
• Nine hours of required courses (health professions, medical terminology, psychology)
• 73 hours of major and concentration coursework

Admission requirements for freshmen include SAT/ACT scores, recommendations, and a personal essay. Transfer applicants with 24 or more credit hours need to submit their transcripts with a 2.75 GPA or better, an essay, and a résumé. Those who have less than 24 credits will need to include ACT/SAT scores. 

Formerly known as Southwest Texas State University, Texas State in San Marcos counts former president Lyndon B. Johnson among its alumni. These days Texas State offers much more than the limited options LBJ would’ve had when he graduated in 1930.

Like a bachelor’s of health administration.

The school breaks down the health administration degree into three competencies: 

• Leadership (including change management and organizational climate)
• Knowledge of the healthcare environment (personnel, law, systems)
• Business knowledge and skills (general, financial, and information management)

Health administration degree students begin major coursework their junior year, taking a hefty load of courses for three straight semesters:

• Ethics in the healthcare industry
• Human resource management
• Patient care
• Healthcare operations management
• Financial management

They will then spend their final semester doing a residency that culminates in a final project.

A bevy of general-education courses precedes all of that, which students will need to complete (with a 2.75 GPA) before applying to the healthcare administration program. They’ll need to pass a writing exam, and submit a statement of purpose and a résumé for admission to it. Getting into TSU requires transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, and an essay. 

Like so many other universities, Towson University—located just outside Baltimore in Towson, MD—began 150 or so years ago as a training school for teachers. These days, it’s the largest university in the Baltimore area and the second largest in the University System of Maryland.

As noted earlier, the website for Towson’s healthcare management program puts it well: “The business side of the healthcare system is just as important as the clinical side in ensuring patients receive the best possible care.” 

So the university’s 121- or 122-unit healthcare management degrees aims for balance. Major coursework comprises 72 units, 24 of which come from a required business administration minor.

The 13 major classes are unsurprisingly comprehensive, covering: 

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Organizations
• Managing Human Resources
• Healthcare Research
• Patient Care

The healthcare management degree culminates with an intense internship for 12 credits, wherein students work 40 hours per week for their final semester of study. Students are also required to submit a program portfolio at the end.

Prospective students who have completed some college coursework will need to contact the Transfer Student Center to review admission requirements, but regular freshmen will need to provide high school transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, and an essay. A résumé and letters of recommendation are optional but encouraged. 

Located in Boone, NC, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian State University was founded in 1899 to serve North Carolina’s “lost provinces.” What was called Watauga Academy eventually became Appalachian State, which holds its own among North Carolina’s distinguished universities. 

U.S. News and World Report ranks Appalachian State: 

• No. 3 for Regional Universities South 
• No. 1 for Most Innovative Schools
• No. 2 in Top Public Schools
• No. 2 for Best Colleges for Veterans

The 124-hour healthcare management degree comprises: 

• 44 credit hours of general education requirements
• Two credit hours of free electives
• 75 credit hours of major requirements

The major coursework is split between 53 credit hours of healthcare management courses, which covers areas like research, economics, and information systems. The other 22 credit hours are “other related areas” such as accounting, business writing, and communications. 

During the summer between junior and senior year, healthcare management majors complete a mandatory internship, where they work full-time in “a structured healthcare setting” for seven and a half weeks.

Perhaps because of its mission to serve the region, App State has friendly admission requirements: transcripts and test scores (for anyone under 23). Transfer students with more than 24 hours of transferable coursework can skip the test scores. 

UVA’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies puts its mission simply: “We don’t care where you start. We care where you finish.” The school exists to help working adults who have some postsecondary education complete their bachelor’s.

How much do they need to have? At least 45 credits’ worth. That’s the minimum to enter UVA’s bachelor of professional studies in health sciences management program. The university offers two tracks for admission: one for people with associate’s degrees and 60 transferable credits (with a minimum 2.0 GPA) and one for others with a high school diploma and 45-60 credits of college coursework.

Applicants also need two essays and a letter of recommendation for admission.

Once in, you will complete the healthcare administration degree online in three to four years. Classes are both synchronous (taking place at a certain time and day) and asynchronous, where students complete coursework on their schedule. 

The healthcare management degree requires 120 credit hours, 60 of which must come from UVA. Forty-six of those come from electives and major coursework, which include classes in: 

• Healthcare finance
• Healthcare research
• Population health
• Economics
• American healthcare
• Two capstone projects

General education accounts for the rest of this bachelor’s degree. Notably, at least three credits “must deal substantially with a non-Western culture.”

Look up alumni from the University of New Hampshire, and prepare for a bunch of hockey players. The school has produced more of them than any other type of notable alumni, which feels fitting for its BS in health management and policy.

Who better to run a medical facility than someone from a hockey school, with all the ligament tears, broken collarbones, concussions, and other injuries that entails?

Located in Durham, in the southeastern corner of the state near the Maine border, UNH’s College of Health and Human Services offers one of the best healthcare management degrees in the nation. The 128-credit program is intended to prepare graduates for a variety of roles. 

Students take numerous courses whose titles begin with “Health”: 

• Issues seminar
• Economics
• Analytics
• Planning
• Ethics
• Law
• Policy

Students choose one of two tracks—public health and health services management—which account for two additional courses. The major healthcare administration coursework adds up to 81 credits, and it includes a 10-week field practicum, where students work 400 clock hours the summer between junior and senior year.

Prospective students should plan to submit transcripts, a letter of recommendation, and SAT/ACT scores for admission.

Oregon State University—located about 80 miles south of Portland in Corvallis—offers health management and policy as a concentration within its Bachelor of Science in public health degree. Students can trek to OSU’s campus in Corvallis to earn the degree or complete it online.

Regardless of the venue, the healthcare administration degree requires 75 credit hours of major coursework, which includes a 12-credit internship completed by working 360 clock hours in a public-health setting. 

The healthcare administration curriculum is built around the following: 

• Six core courses (such as Economic Issues in Health and Medical Care) 
• 11 supporting courses covering the math and sciences

Students also have the option to add a gerontology certificate to their degree with additional coursework and a field study.

OSU takes a holistic approach to its admissions criteria, weighing high school curriculum, GPA, and test scores, along with a personal résumé. Transfer students with more than 16 credit hours of transferable coursework need to meet GPA thresholds. 

“Chico State,” as it’s known to friends, is the second oldest university in the California State University system. It opened back in 1887 as the northern California branch of the state’s teaching college. These days it serves roughly 17,000 students, 98% of whom hail from California.

The university offers a Bachelor of Science in health services administration, which is composed of 57 units of major coursework. 

On the curriculum are introductory courses for financial and managerial accounting, along with management classes for health services organizations and principles in health services. There’s also the usual healthcare industry topics like: 

• Statistics
• Community health
• Multicultural health
• Healthcare organizations
• Laws and ethics
• Healthcare delivery systems

Healthcare management students complete an internship and a health services administration capstone seminar.

Chico State uses a formula for admission—which favors students from the surrounding area—but applicants should plan to submit SAT/ACT scores and a high school transcript. 

California State University Northridge’s Bachelor of Science in Health Administration provides a 120-unit health administration program focusing on “learning-centered courses, community partnerships, advocacy, and scholarship,” per its website. 

General education requirements account for 36 credits, with other required units adding 13, leaving 71 credits of major coursework. That begins with lower-division classes in the sciences before proceeding to upper-division core courses in: 

• Biostatistics
• Epidemiology
• Health services overview
• Population health

The real core of the health administration major comprises 33 units in areas such as: 

• Administration
• Health maintenance organizations
• Health planning
• Healthcare finance

Electives allow for further specialization in hospital administration, gerontology, and others. Like other programs on our list, CSUN requires an internship at an approved agency for 180 clock hours.

Applicants should plan to send their high school transcript and SAT/ACT scores. 

The tagline on the website for Charter Oak State College is “Degrees without boundaries,” and the university isn’t speaking figuratively. The Connecticut school offers its programs exclusively online.

The university specializes in degree-completion programs, providing those who have associate’s degrees or other college coursework a means for earning their Bachelor of Science in healthcare administration. 

The healthcare administration degree requires a minimum of 42 credit hours of major coursework in classes like: 

• Health Care Systems and Administration
• Financial Accounting
• Human Resource Management
• Leadership in Healthcare Administration

The healthcare administration program also covers areas like finance, economics, and healthcare principles. It concludes with a capstone project.

Because Charter Oak aims to help adults complete their degrees, its admission requirements are minimal, and its online application can be completed in minutes. The university is also generous with transfer credit, accepting up to 87 credit hours. 

Considering the university’s name, it should come as no surprise that Oregon Tech offers its Bachelor of Science in healthcare management online and on campus. But those who travel to Klamath Falls, home to Oregon tech, can enjoy its proximity to beautiful Crater Lake National Park and bright skies.

Crater Lake is known as “Oregon’s City of Sunshine,” an uncommon resource in the gloomy Pacific Northwest.

The university’s Bachelor of Science in healthcare management offers three concentrations: 

• Healthcare Administration
• Clinical
• Radiologic science management

The healthcare administration degree program is the widest option, as it “builds a broader base of understanding of healthcare in the U.S. and its systems, policies, and challenges.” Students on this track complete a medical sociology minor. 

The clinical track is open to students certified in an allied health field interested in more supervisory roles. They earn 44 credit hours for their registry work. 

The radiologic science management option is for those currently registered with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists who want to run a medical imaging facility or department. They earn 89 credit hours for previous work.

Clinical and radiologic students begin the program as sophomores, while administration students spend their first year boning up on foundational classes in: 

• Psychology
• Human resources
• Writing technical reports
• Healthcare marketing

Oregon Tech operates on the trimester system, so it crams a lot into each academic year. The healthcare management program requires 181-205 credit hours, depending on the track. Each track ends with a capstone project or internship.

True first-year students will need their SAT/ACT scores and self-reported high school GPA, while students who have 24 semester credits will need a 2.25 GPA or better for admission. 

Founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell, Liberty University describes itself as an “evangelical liberal arts institution” that trains “champions of Christ.”

However, students studying for a Bachelor of Science in healthcare administration spend most of their time on the more Earthly concerns of working in the U.S. healthcare system. (Well, after they take eight hours of Christianity & Contexts.)

Liberty’s 120-hour healthcare administration degree program is offered exclusively online via eight-week courses. Most students take three and a half years to finish the online program—or less, considering the university allows up to 75% of the degree work to be transferred. 

The online program begins with three foundational courses: 

• Business Computer Apps
• Probability and Statistics
• Organizational Behavior

Then, 57 hours of upper-level work kicks in and covers all the usuals: 

• Managerial Accounting Principles
• Legal and Ethical Issues
• Healthcare Operations Management
• Patient Care
• Healthcare Informatics

Electives round out the rest of this healthcare administration degree online.

Liberty University prides itself on what it calls the “three As”: affordability, accessibility, and academic quality. Where affordability is concerned, Liberty charges $22,713 for all students—lower than the out-of-state average, though about twice the in-state one. 

For accessibility, students only need to supply college transcripts and self-certified high school info for admission. 

Academic quality? At No. 19 on our list, Liberty is no slouch.

Located in the far southeastern corner of South Dakota, the state’s namesake university hosts about 10,000 students. Many gravitate toward the Beacom School of Business and its Bachelor of Business Administration, of which health services administration is a part. 

The 120-hour healthcare administration degree requires 70-75 credit hours of major coursework, all of it completed at USD’s campus in Vermillion, SD. 

Unlike other degrees where students don’t get a taste of their major until junior year, first years at USD start working through their pre-major business core classes in the first semester. Each semester finds them checking off one or more of those prerequisite courses until 48 credit hours of major coursework begins in earnest junior year.

The curriculum offers a mélange of business and healthcare courses, like: 

• Business Finance
• Business Statistics
• Human Resources
• Health Services Administration Law and Policy
• Health Economics

Coursework hits all of the expected points of human resource management, marketing, organizational theory, and more. The bachelor’s degree also includes an internship, usually completed in the summer between junior and senior years.

If nothing else, USD has its cost going for it: At $9,432 for in-state and $12,942 for out-of-state, it’s well below the average cost of other programs in our best bachelor’s in healthcare management. 

Admission is pretty typical for first years: 

• ACT/SAT scores
• High school transcripts
• Good grades

Transfers need at least 24 credit hours and a 2.0 GPA. Once at USD, students need to apply to Beacom, and for that, they need to have completed 45 semester hours with a 2.5 GPA or better.