Online Master of Public Administration with Healthcare Administration Track
Healthcare occupies a crucial role in the center of policy, finance, and public service, and public administrators play a critical role in shaping how care is delivered and who can access it. With employment of healthcare administrators projected to grow 23% through 2034, the demand for skilled leaders in this space is only increasing.
Pace University offers an online Master of Public Administration with a track in Healthcare Administration gives you the specialized knowledge to meet that demand. Alongside a core curriculum in public administration, budgeting, and research methods, you’ll develop expertise in the U.S. healthcare system, health policy, and health services management. You’ll graduate ready to lead in hospitals, public health agencies, regulatory organizations, and beyond.
Learn more about career opportunities with an MPA for healthcare administration.
Skills You’ll Gain
Through the Healthcare Administration track, you’ll develop expertise in:
- Policy Analysis: Examine the legislative and regulatory forces shaping public health systems, and develop the analytical skills to evaluate and influence policy decisions at local, state, and federal levels.
- Financial Management: Learn to manage budgets, allocate resources, and navigate the financial structures unique to public and nonprofit healthcare organizations.
- Health Program Planning and Evaluation: Design and assess public health programs using data-driven methodologies to measure outcomes and improve service delivery.
- Research Methods and Applied Statistics: Design and conduct quantitative and qualitative research to inform healthcare policy and organizational decisions, including survey methods, inferential statistics, and the interpretation of public health data and academic research.
- Organizational Leadership in Healthcare Settings: Apply management theory to the specific challenges of healthcare administration, including workforce development, stakeholder engagement, and institutional change.
- Law and Ethics: Understand the legal frameworks and ethical considerations governing healthcare delivery and administration, from patient rights to compliance requirements.
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To learn more about the online Master of Public Administration, fill out the fields in this form to download a free brochure. If you have any questions at any time, please contact an enrollment specialist at (914) 758-1080.
Career Outcomes
MPA Healthcare Administration track graduates are well-positioned for leadership roles across public health agencies and hospital systems. Discover how you can apply your Pace online MPA skills to key positions in the healthcare administration field:
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO) | Salary Average: $151,676 | Salary Range: $95k-$242k Healthcare CEOs provide executive leadership across hospital systems, public health organizations, and regulatory agencies. Your MPA foundation prepares you to lead at the highest levels of healthcare management.
- Hospital Administrator | Salary Average: $99,131 | Salary Range: $61k-$204kHospital administrators oversee the day-to-day operations of healthcare facilities, managing staff, budgets, and organizational strategy. Courses like Hospital and Health Services Administration and Budgeting and Financial Analysis prepares you to keep complex healthcare environments running effectively.
- Health Policy Analyst | Salary Average: $72,491 | Salary Range: $56k-$110kHealth policy analysts research and evaluate policies affecting public health systems. Your training in health policy and applied data analysis equips you to assess policy impact and present evidence-informed recommendations to government agencies and healthcare organizations.
- Director of Materials Management, Hospital | Salary Average: $60,129 | Salary Range: $45k-$80kMaterials management directors oversee the procurement, distribution, and inventory of supplies and equipment within hospital systems. Courses in Budgeting and Financial Analysis and Hospital and Health Services Administration gives you the operational and financial grounding this role requires.
Curriculum
Core Courses (21 credits)
This course provides an introduction to the field of public administration including its history as an academic discipline and a field of service. It focuses on the organization and structure of American national, state, and local governments and examines their powers, responsibilities, and functions in the federal system. The course emphasizes the impact of a changing political environment on the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government as they influence the development of public policy. Specific case examples illustrating the principles of public administration will be taken from government, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations.
This course examines organizations from three perspectives, as closed, natural, and open systems. It will help students to understand better the relationship among organizational structure, organization functions, and individual and group behavior. Behavioral forces and their implications will be addressed as students are exposed to concepts of power, control, and change within appropriate contexts. Leadership will be discussed from a situational perspective with emphasis on the complexity of the modern organization in the government, healthcare, and nonprofit sectors. Knowledge of organizational theory will be used to enhance students’ understanding of management functions.
This course introduces the principles of economics as applied to the government, healthcare, and nonprofit sectors in the United States. This course will provide an analysis of the role of public and nonprofit institutions in the private market economic system. Special attention will be paid to the interaction of economics and the political process. Specific topics to be covered are: public vs private goods, market failure and externalities, supply and demand analysis, public choice theory, indifference curve analysis, macroeconomic stabilization, the public debt, and economic development and growth. Economic analysis will be applied to contemporary policy issues such as public welfare, healthcare, the environment, transportation, education, and taxation.
This course provides an in-depth analysis of budgeting and finance as applied to government, healthcare, and the nonprofit sectors. Its main focus is on principles of public finance and budgetary analysis as seen in financial decision making. Topics introduced in the course include the budget cycle, budget methods, budget reform, taxation and tax structures, intergovernmental fiscal relations, and cost and break-even analyses. The course also involves computer applications of these concepts to problems in government, healthcare, and nonprofit sector decision-making.
This is a core course in the MPA program. It covers the fundamentals of research methods for public administrators. The course is designed to assist public administrators in the consumption and production of research in their field. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research will be covered and public administration students will be given direct experience in both of these research areas.
This course teaches the fundamentals of statistical and quantitative methods as applied to public administration. The course is designed to integrate statistical and quantitative methods and decision making. Topics to be included are: basic measurement and experimental design probability and probability distribution, samples and sampling techniques, inference and hypothesis testing, contingency tables, analysis of variance, correlation analysis, and simple and multiple regression analysis. Emphasis will be placed on the applications of these concepts to issues and problems in government, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations.
The program culminates with a Capstone Project Seminar which provides the student with the opportunity to carry out an analysis of an organization with which they are familiar. It may be one in which the student is currently employed or the site of an administrative placement during the program. The specific focus of the analysis will be determined by the interests of the student and approved by the project advisor. Seminar discussions will assist the student to relate concepts to the functioning of ongoing organizations, thus tying the curriculum to the world of work. A formal presentation of the analysis will be required.
Healthcare Administration Track Courses (12 credits)
This course explores the past, present, and future of the healthcare delivery system in the United States. It is designed to familiarize students with the development of the various subsystems of care and the ways in which various public, private, and social forces influence the politics of healthcare and mold the structure and functions of the entire system of care. Issues discussed will include managed care and its potential as a healthcare delivery system, the continuum of long term and mental health care, and United States Health System reform initiatives stimulated by the private sector and at various levels of government.
This course is designed to familiarize students with current health policy issues and to provide them with an understanding of the basic concepts of health policy, the process of health policy, and the politics of health policy development and implementation. Special attention will be given to the review and analysis of health policy issues, particularly in regard to the reform process in the United States healthcare system. The course explores health policy within historical, political, social, and economic contexts; examines both the public and private sector initiative for health care delivery; and probes more deeply lingering health policy issues such as cost, access, quality, and appropriateness of care.
This course examines the basic elements of formation and the extent of the United States healthcare system including: the basic elements of governance and operation in the private and public sectors; the interaction of boards of trustees, medical staff, and management; issues in hospital services, out-patient services, emergency services, and home care; internal and external factors affecting operation of facilities; methods of evaluation, basic financial factors affecting revenue production and expense control; elements of long range planning as strategy for management and leadership; and role of the manager, and creating a focus for blending program operations, financing, and planning.
This seminar focuses on topics of special interest to health management students. Examples include hospital organization and management, ambulatory care administration, public health services administration, mental health services administration, etc.
Elective Courses (9 credits)
Choose three electives in consultation with the department faculty advisor. Other courses may be selected as electives with prior approval of the faculty advisor.
See Our Full List of Elective Courses
Frequently Asked Questions
Full-time students can complete the online Master of Public Administration (MPA) program in as little as two years, while part-time students typically complete the program in three to four years.
Yes, some MPA students choose to complete the degree part time while maintaining a full-time work schedule.
MPA with a Healthcare Administration track graduates go on to work across a wide range of public and private healthcare organizations. Our alumni have worked for state and local health agencies as well as nonprofit and for-profit healthcare organizations, including major hospitals in the NYC metro area such as Presbyterian, Mt. Sinai, Lenox Hill, and Montefiore. Regulatory agencies and public health departments at the local, state, and federal levels are also common employers for graduates in this track.
The Pace Office of Graduate Admission informs applicants of the committee’s decision within 1-2 weeks of your completed application submission. Accepted students receive their letter of acceptance from Pace via email.
Admission Summary
The application process is streamlined for your convenience.
Step 1: Complete the online application
- It only takes minutes, and you can save your progress: Start Your Application.
Step 2: Submit additional materials
- Official transcripts
- Three letters of recommendation
- Academic and personal statements
Step 3: You’ll hear from our admissions teams in 1-2 weeks
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