Health Administration-Executive
MHA
Why study Health Administration-Executive?
The mission of the University of Cincinnati’s innovative on-line Master of Health Administration (MHA) Degree Program is to provide working professionals who might not have ready access to traditional educational routes with a high-quality experiential and practice oriented curriculum in healthcare management, preparing them to serve as innovative, transformative, ethical healthcare leaders within teams, organizations and health systems.
We offer a competency-driven, evidence-based curriculum which, by including both academics and practitioners as faculty, is adaptive to the ever-changing healthcare environment encouraging lifelong learning. Our on-line approach is designed both to expand access and to allow mid-level and other working health professionals to develop and enhance nationally recognized competencies. Our faculty are committed to discovery, integration, application, and teaching. They create an online learning environment that is research-based and service-oriented, and which assures the best possible educational experience for all students, including individualized learning paths when necessary.
Vision Statement:
The vision of the UC MHA program is to be acknowledged as a national leader in leveraging online educational technology to prepare future leaders for the ever-changing healthcare environment. The faculty have been nationally recognized for published and presented research.
Our graduates will be further proof of our efforts:
- their evaluations will guide us
- their efforts will be recognized by their supervisors, colleagues, patients, and organizations as characterizing curious, competent, and compassionate stewards of the public and institutional trust, and
- their performance will reflect honor upon their alma mater, their employers, and their profession
Values Statement:
The University of Cincinnati’s Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree program values a conception of the healthcare leader as a true health professional, rather than soley a manager. In this, we are in strong support of the American College of Healthcare Executives’ (ACHE) Code of Ethics, with its focus on the healthcare managers responsibilities to:
- the profession
- patients or others served
- the organization and employees
In our faculty we value:
- a commitment to teaching informed by research and/or practice
- a dedication to service, whether to university, profession, or community
- the understanding that our learners are adults who are working and living full lives while improving their education
- a cooperative, collegial approach that allows for the development and maintenance of an integrated practice-oriented curriculum
Admission Requirements
- Qualified applicants must meet all the criteria below:
- Completed bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
- Minimum 3.0 GPA
- At least two years of work experience in a health care setting is preferred. Students transitioning from undergraduate health care degrees are encouraged to highlight experience through internships/practicums. Please highlight work experience within resume and personal statement.
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Applicants must submit all the following materials:
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Unofficial transcripts of all undergraduate and any graduate (if applicable) coursework
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Two professional or academic references to provide letters of recommendation that address the applicant’s academic readiness for graduate-level work, work ethic, and habits, and the applicant’s communication and interpersonal skills.
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*Letters of recommendation from family, friends, current students, politicians, or clergy are not accepted.
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Resume/CV
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Executive MHA applicants are strongly encouraged to highlight experience in health care.
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Personal statement or brief essay (no more than three pages double-spaced) answering the following prompts:
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What are your academic goals?
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How will earning your MHA help you reach your professional goals?
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How will you balance work and your online program?
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What is your motivation for earning your MHA?
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Application fee
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$65 domestic, $70 international application fee.
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The University of Cincinnati Master of Health Administration program has graduates from all over the country. From presidents and vice presidents of hospital systems to chief operating officers, physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, the UC MHA program has over 750 graduates from over 20 states. Our graduates work for the Department of Labor to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Stanford Children’s Health, to the University of Cincinnati Health System. The UC MHA program is a 100% online, with no residency requirement, allowing our students to attend school while working for some of the largest health care systems in the country.
The job outlook for health administrators is expected to rise by 23% over the next decade. Health administrators work in healthcare facilities, including hospitals, medical practices, nursing homes, and hospital systems. Health administrators prepare and monitor budgets, operating revenue, supervise staff, and ensure the quality improvement of the health system. Some of the careers that health administrators occupy include CEOs and CFOs of hospital systems, clinical managers, health information managers, and nursing home administrators. The majority of UC MHA program graduates work in higher management positions across the United States.
The information provided is sourced from a third party, Lightcast. Their product, called Career Coach, combines extensive labor market data from Lightcast and the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides insights on industry, occupation, compensation, and projected growth for each profession. Economic and workforce information is available for various geographic regions. Some careers may require additional training or education.-
The University of Cincinnati has online enrollment services advisors (ESAs) available to help learners complete their application and get started in the Online Master of Health Informatics program. If you have not already, please use the request information form above to be connected to an ESA today!
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Upon starting the program, a dedicated student success coordinator (SSC) will be assigned to all learners to help them achieve their academic goals. You will be introduced to your SSC as your first semester approaches, and they will be your primary liaison to the university all the way through graduation.
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Executive MHA Advisory Board
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The Executive Health Administration National Advisory Board is comprised of members who are leaders from the healthcare and business communities. They provide vision and guidance to ensure the Executive MHA program addresses the current and future issues that the healthcare industry is faced with.
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As a CAHME (Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education) accredited program, it is important that we provide our students with real-world insight into the challenges they will face when they graduate. UC is dedicated to bringing this resource to its students while maintaining relationships that help grow and enrich the curriculum.
Please see the UC Graduate College Student Handbook.
Students who have earned graduate credits from accredited institutions may be eligible to apply some of those credits towards their pursuit of the online Executive Master of Health Administration. Please contact your Enrollment Services Advisor (ESA) for specifics about the policy.
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Students living abroad are eligible to pursue this program, but will not be qualified for an F-1 Visa for this online program
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Applicants with college coursework completed outside the United States are required to provide a course-by-course foreign credential evaluation for each college or university you attended outside the United States. This evaluation must be obtained from a service listed on the NACES member website.
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Applicants who completed their studies outside of the United States may also be required to supply proof of English Proficiency. More information about requirements for English proficiency and potential waivers can be found here: English Language Proficiency Requirements
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For the College of Allied Health Sciences and the Executive MHA program, the following minimum scores and test types are acceptable for English Proficiency.
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TOEFL minimum – 580 (paper version), 237 (computer), or 93 (Internet)
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IELTS minimum 6.5
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Duolingo minimum 110
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Application Deadlines
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Spring 2026 – December 4th
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Summer 2026 – April 13th
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Fall 2026 – July 27th
The Master of Health Administration (MHA) program at the University of Cincinnati is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).
Contact Information
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Program Code: 35MAS-HADM-MHA-.HADM-DL