SPHHS to Launch Online Master of Health Administration Degree Program in Fall 2025
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The University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences has recently been approved by the UMass Board of Trustees and the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education to offer a new Master of Health Administration program that will be available to students in fall 2025.
In their April 2024 meeting, the trustees approved a Master of Health Administration (MHA), an online degree program in the Department of Health Promotion and Policy. The part-time, online MHA program will be one of the few of its kind offered by a Massachusetts public university.
The curriculum is comprised of 40 credits including core courses in public health (health policy and management), management, strategic management, leadership, graduate seminars and a capstone experience that involves a service-learning case study with the student’s current or prospective place of employment.
Lawrence Pellegrini, director of the Online MPH in Public Health Practice Program and senior lecturer in health policy and management, says the program is designed to be completed in three years for individuals who want to further their education part-time while continuing to work.
“The degree is designed for working professionals looking to acquire needed skillsets to gain leadership positions within the healthcare field,” Pellegrini says. “The program is fully online and asynchronous which offers a great deal of flexibility for students to complete the degree while balancing other responsibilities.”
The program differs from a business school master’s program in health care administration or master’s in business administration because it is within the SPHHS and is public health focused.
“We’re a school of public health,” Pellegrini says. “A lot of the values that we're going to be installing in the context of our program are going to be very much public health-oriented, so there would be a lot of population-based approaches to healthcare innovation.”
Graduates would be prepared for roles as healthcare administrators across industry sectors in businesses, educational institutions, government agencies, non-profit groups, community wellness programs, residential healthcare facilities, hospitals and clinical settings.