Are you driven to improve healthcare delivery and management? Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Healthcare Administration equips you with the expertise to lead and innovate in healthcare settings. These degrees offer advanced knowledge and skills necessary for high-level administrative roles in the growing field of healthcare.
*Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Medical Records Specialists, at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-records-and-health-information-technicians.htm (visited August, 2024).
The time it takes to earn a healthcare administration degree can vary depending on the type of program and your current educational background. Generally, a Bachelor's Degree requires about 4 years of full-time study. This degree is more comprehensive and can open up more advanced career opportunities.
The amount a Bachelor's Degree in Healthcare Administration costs will vary depending on the school you attend and various other factors. Typically the costs will range between $10,000 - $60,000 per year with additional costs for books and other schooling supplies.
About 60% to 70% of students complete a bachelor's degree within 4 years at public universities, and slightly higher at private universities.
Accreditation is an important part of selecting a school. Much depends on accreditation and the type of accreditation. There are two main types of accreditation; regional and national. Regional accreditation agencies work with research-based schools, private schools, public schools, and some for-profit schools. National accreditation works primarily with for-profit and career-related education.
Regional Accreditation
There are two types of regional accreditation; they are program accreditation and institutional accreditation. Institutional accreditation uses a group of states as the base to compare the school with other colleges and universities; the group of states comprises the region assigned by the Department of Education.
Programmatic Accreditation looks at specific programs or parts of a college or university. This type of accreditation has the same type of respect and acceptance as regional accreditation for institutions. Regional employers and other educational institutions regard regional accreditation as proof of high-quality education.
National Accreditation
National accreditation has a Faith-based branch and a career- related education branch. Faith-based institutions have a different set of standards that recognize the role of faith in instruction. The for-profit branch of national accreditation covers the special purpose and non-traditional schools such as vocational schools. The career-related education requires standards that place appropriate weight on general knowledge and education. Some regionally accredited schools do not accept credits from career-related schools.
Did you know that your salary is not always just based on what level of degree you received, but it also could be based on what school you attended? Many employers actually have their own rankings and rating systems of schools. That is to say, if you received your degree from a college that was accredited by a low rated agency, your salary may actually be decreased by a certain percentage where a high-ranked, well-known, accredited school, can raise that mark significantly.
If you are going to spend a lot of time and energy to attain an Healthcare Administration degree, you will certainly want some job placement assistance as you near graduation. Discuss this with your admissions counselor when you are considering the right program. In fact, you might want to broaden that discussion by asking about how your school handles internships and if co-op programs are available. Experiential learning can help you not only gain the skills needed to land a job, but you can also cultivate a professional network that will help you build the career you deserve.
