MHA Health Administration & Policy

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Master of Health Administration (MHA) is a professional graduate degree that prepares the graduate for a career as a senior administrator of a health service organization. Students will gain an understanding of the following competency areas:

     • the U.S. healthcare system;
     • communication;
     • executive leadership and ethical decision-making;
     • critical thinking;
     • quantitative analysis;
     • patient outcome improvement; and
     • professionalism.

There are interprofessional experiences included in the MHA program. All MHA students complete a 400-hour internship in health administration to gain hands-on experience, as well as one health administration & policy case competition. Students have recently served as interns in hospitals, multi-specialty physician practices, long-term care facilities, university medical centers and with the Veterans Administration. The internship provides an opportunity to integrate the student’s understanding of the practical day-to-day functions of management, planning or policy analysis with the traditional basic skills learned during the didactic portion of the program. Following graduation, most students go on to an administrative fellowship program or directly into the workforce.

Click here to view the types of jobs our alumni have.

MHA Class data

Graduation and Employment data

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

• Must be in good standing with the college or university where currently enrolled or last attended.
• Bachelor’s degree or entry-level first professional degree from an accredited institution.
• Grade point average of 3.0 or above using the upper-division coursework of the bachelor's degree.
• Submission of the SOPHAS application and the supplemental OUHSC Hudson College of Public Health application.
• Career goal statement uploaded through SOPHAS.
• Current CV/Resume uploaded through SOPHAS.
• Three letters of academic or professional recommendation uploaded through SOPHAS by the recommender. Applicants must list recommenders’ contact information on the application and then upon submission, SOPHAS will send instructions to each recommender on how to submit their letter electronically through the online portal.
• Transcripts:
  • U.S. Applicants: SOPHAS requires a separate official transcript from every U.S. and Canadian institution attended be submitted by utilizing the instructions here. Applicants will enter the information in coursework section of the application utilizing the data from their transcript(s). Do not enter foreign courses taken at Universities outside the U.S. or Canada into the coursework section of the application.
  • International Applicants: There are two options for transcript and degree certificate evaluation:     
    1. Submit transcripts and degree certificates to the World Education Services (www.wes.org) for a course-by-course evaluation, and designate SOPHAS to receive the evaluation; or 
    2. Submit transcripts and degree certificates to the Educational Credential Evaluators (www.ece.org) for a course-by-course evaluation, and designate results to be sent from ECE to admissions@ouhsc.edu or to the following address:
            OUHSC Office of Admissions and Records
            1105 N. Stonewall Avenue, LIB 121
            Oklahoma City, OK  73117
• International applicants are required to demonstrate English proficiency by submitting TOEFL (score of 100 or above) or IELTS (score of 7.0 or above) that meet the minimum required score. TOEFL scores must be submitted to SOPHAS using the designation code #5688.
• Interview with Admissions Committee (in-person or via web-conferencing).

APPLICATION DEADLINES

Hudson College of Public Health applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and applications will be reviewed as they are complete. All materials must be submitted by the deadlines listed below for full consideration.

Master of Health Administration and Policy:

• Spring: December 15
• Fall: August 1
• Summer: May 1

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

CURRENT OU STUDENTS OR ALUMNI APPLICATION PROCESS

Application Instructions for Current OU Students and OU Alumni can be found here.

NON-OU STUDENTS OR ALUMNI APPLICATION PROCESS

Submit a SOPHAS application (www.sophas.org) and required fee (click here to review information regarding SOPHAS fees and fee waivers). The documentation identified in the ‘Admission Requirements’ section must be submitted in SOPHAS.

Applicants to the OU Hudson College of Public Health are required to submit a supplemental application and fee. The supplemental application is available via the OU Health Sciences Center website at: https://apps.ouhsc.edu/admissions/. Applicants must select the same program(s) in the supplemental application as they did in the SOPHAS application.

PLEASE NOTE: Fee waivers are not available for the supplemental application.  

• $100 for one or two professional programs (Certificate / MPH / MHA programs). One professional program = $100. Two professional programs = $100.
• $75 for one or two graduate program(s) (MS / PhD programs).
• $175 for one professional program AND one graduate program (i.e. applicant applies to both the MPH in Biostatistics and the MS in Biostatistics).

COST & FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Student support opportunities to offset costs include graduate research assistantships and public health scholarships. Students may expect additional costs that include, but are not limited to, a personal computer, textbooks, insurance, and supplies. For financial aid information, contact the Financial Aid Office at (405) 271-2118.

Financial support opportunities for students:

• graduate research assistantships - may be eligible for waiver of non-resident tuition
• Hudson College of Public Health scholarships
• traineeships

Estimated Costs

Bursar’s Office – Tuition and Fees

Financial Assistance

Scholarship Opportunities

CURRICULUM

STEM DESIGNATION

The Master of Health Administration and Policy program is NOT considered a STEM-designated degree program.

A STEM-designated program is an academic program that falls under at least one of the approved categories from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These categories are recognized by the government for their focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics. DHS's updated STEM-designated degree list can be found here: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stemList2022.pdf. 

PROGRAM BROCHURE

Department of Health Administration and Policy
Hudson College of Public Health
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
801 NE 13th Street, Suite 165
Oklahoma City, OK  73104

Office of Student Services
Phone:  (405) 271-2308
Email:  hcoph@ouhsc.edu

OUHSC Office of Admissions and Records: (405) 271-2359 or admissions@ouhsc.edu 
OUHSC Office of Financial Aid: (405) 271-2118 or financial-aid@ouhsc.edu 

Click here to schedule a virtual, phone, or in-person prospective student appointment with one of our Advisors.

Click here to review the MHA program FAQs.