FAQs About the Online Master of Health Administration

It is possible to complete the program in as few as 24 months.

There are three start dates to choose from each year – Fall, Spring, or Summer.

Yes. We have Regis College student support specialists who are personally invested in your online learning experience. They will help with administrative tasks, such as registration, and support positive study habits by customizing a degree plan that fits into your lifestyle.

We launched our on-campus program in 2009 and the online MHA program in 2016. During this time we’ve established a solid foothold in Massachusetts. We have been able to draw faculty from some of the finest hospitals in Boston, such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Joslin Diabetes Center. Most of our faculty are practicing in health care management and health care or long-term administration.

No, previous experience in health care is not required. We think we are a unique institution in that regard because we welcome all students with any employment or educational background. We have a combination of students who want to get into the health care industry and those who have worked in health care and want to prepare for a promotion by completing their master’s. We also welcome new graduates who want to enter the field. It has proven to be a very rich learning environment.

We’ve defined it as two years of experience in a health care setting with at least one of those two years being in a management position. It’s subject to the program director’s discretion whether the management experience is adequate to waive the field experience requirement. It could be management of a project or of a unit (people manager) within a health care organization. It would be looked at on a case by case basis. It could be that after their requirement is waived, a student could still be advised to do the field experience if they wish to work in a different area of health care or want to use the field experience as a networking opportunity.

Students can use their place of employment, but they must go to another department in their institution. In some cases, students stay in the same setting where they work, but work on something very different for 100 hours (that’s the requirement). It’s much less about the setting and more about the type of work. The field experience course also involves doing a project or participating in a project.

Yes, the coursework would involve regular (probably weekly) discussion board postings about your field experience that would be shared with the faculty and students. It might involve reading that has to do with pertinent topics in management that students are experiencing in their field setting. Also, it could involve the development of a poster or short paper on some aspect of the experience.

An MBA is less focused on health care and usually involves a Master in Business Administration curriculum with only a couple of health care courses added. You might take some courses in an MBA program that may not be that relevant in the health care industry, but rather general business courses.

Our MHA is a master’s degree in the business of health care — every course, even the business courses like management, accounting, or financial analysis. Health care is integrated into every course, not just a couple of courses tacked onto the curriculum. Health care is not just a business; it’s much more. It’s a combination of private and public systems. Our curriculum has a big emphasis on health care policy. That means we recognize the important role of government in our health care system, not only as insurer, but in relation to regulation of the entire health care system.

They certainly are. We recommend that they do because we pride ourselves on diversity of the student body. It enriches what we do to have students from other places share their thoughts and how their systems work. Nowadays, especially online, there really are no barriers. Students can do their field experience in their own country. We think international students are a great asset to our program

Yes there are. One of them is from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), which has a fellowship program. The certification is based on an exam and some actual experience in the health care setting. Each state has its own certification, such as a licensed nursing home administrator (NHA). Requirements for certifications differ from state to state. Typically, it requires some period of employment or experience before you can get certified.

In the Regis College online MHA program, you are not alone and siloed away. Through discussion forums, email, and online chats, you will be engaged through collaborative learning in your courses. Faculty members maintain regular contact and you may contact them online, during video office hours, and by email. You will also be able to collaborate with your peer students via conferencing software.

Yes, you will develop the leadership and management skills needed to succeed in today’s complex long-term care environment. Our curriculum emphasizes leadership in health policy; excellence in health care quality management, financial analysis, and informatics; and strategic management of health care organizations and long-term care settings. Our hands-on field experience placement, may assist you in fulfilling the required training hours to be eligible for licensure, depending on the requirements of the state where you plan to work.