Admissions Requirements

View admissions requirements.

Program-Specific Prerequisites

Strong quantitative and communication skills are essential. Prior experience in healthcare is not required; however, the MHA program does give consideration to applicants with relevant professional work experience, superior credentials, and demonstrated leadership potential.

View current student demographics.

• Preferred undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Statement of purpose and objectives
• Resume
• Transcripts
• Three letters of recommendation
• TOEFL score of 600 on paper test or 250 on computer test or 90 on internet-based test for applicants whose native language is not English

Application Timeline

Applications are reviewed on a rolling admission basis as completed applications are verified in SOPHAS; spaces are limited, and applicants are encouraged to complete the admission process prior to the priority deadline. Applications received until the final deadline will be considered on a space-available basis.

1. Complete your SOPHAS application.
2. Once your completed application with all relevant materials is verified by SOPHAS (this can take 4 to 6 weeks) the program will begin review of your application.
3. Program determines if candidate moves to next stage to interview with program
4. Applicant is invited to interview.
5. Admissions committee reviews application and interview materials, makes final decision.
6. Applicant is informed of admission decision.

Learn more about the SPH application review process.

Suggested Preparation

Coursework

Applicants are strongly advised to prepare for the program’s finance and statistics coursework. The faculty highly recommend the following coursework prior to matriculation:

• Statistics
• Accounting
• Microeconomics

Applicants could prepare through coursework taken within their undergraduate degree or through non-credit bearing options (ie. LinkedIn Learning, Coursera etc).

Exploring the Field

Applicants with a clear sense of career goals, and what they can contribute to the field, are highly considered. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to explore the field of healthcare management in a variety of ways.

• Applicants should consider talking with healthcare managers to help develop a sense of their goals.
• Gain experience working in healthcare and/or other relevant work experiences. Some examples include:
  • Admissions in a hospital emergency room
  • Nursing aide in a long term care center
  • Volunteer at local hospital – wheeling patients to and from surgery
  • Assistant researcher at a cancer center
  • Transcription support technician at a local hospital
  • Clinic office manager
  • Administrative internship
  • Other shadowing, volunteering, or paid work that would be experience within healthcare or related fields
• Consider listening to the following podcasts:
  • Gist Healthcare Daily
  • Tradeoffs
  • TedTalks Health
  • What the Health: Kaiser
• Consider the following books, journals and newsletters for further inquiry and research:
  • An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal
  • Being Mortal, Atul Gwande
  • The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gwande
  • How Doctors Think, Jerome Groopman
  • Where Does it Hurt? An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Fixing Health Care, Jonathon Bush
  • The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age, Robert Wachter
  • Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results, Michael E. Porter
  • The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care, T. R. Reid
  • America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix our Broken Healthcare System, Steven Brill
  • Internal Bleeding: The Truth Behind America’s Terrifying Epidemic of Medical Mistakes, Robert Wachter and Kaveh Shojania
  • Crossing the Quality Chasm, Institute of Medicine
  • Kaiser Health News (KHN): Sign up to receive a daily health newsletter.
  • HealthAffairs: View Health Policy Briefs
  • AHIP Solutions Smart Brief: Sign up to receive articles Monday – Friday.
  • The Commonwealth Fund: Sign up at the bottom of the page to receive e-alerts and newsletters on specific health policy topics.
  • Gist Healthcare: Sign up to receive news and insights delivered every Friday.
  • Health Tech Nerds (Formally “Kevin’s Weekly Health Tech News”): Sign up to receive news in Health Tech
• Professional Associations are also a great source of information:
  • The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) lists both the various healthcare settings and functional areas in which managers work.
  • The Association for University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) offers prospective students the resources for exploring the field and finding programs of study.
  • Healthcare Consulting – American Association of Healthcare Consultants
  • Hospital Administration – American Hospital Association
  • Healthcare Finance – Healthcare Financial Management Association
  • Information Management – Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
  • Managed Care – America’s Health Insurance Plan
  • Practice Management – Medical Group Management Association
  • Public Health – American Public Health Association
  • U.S. Health Policy – Kaiser Family Foundation