The graduate program in health administration prepares professionals to meet critical and complex challenges in leadership and improvement in organizations and systems throughout the health industry. The program provides recognized national and global leadership in health management education.
The program is competency-based and distinctively equips graduates for success through (a) providing solid grounding in professional and operational knowledge and skills, (b) integrating health informatics throughout the health services management curriculum, and (c) incorporating overarching complex systems context and analytical approaches.
The residential and executive master’s degrees launch and advance patient-centered, improvement-oriented, financially-responsible, and ethically-grounded careers in evidence-based health services management.
The program admits diverse cohorts of students from Missouri, other states, and other nations. Through the admissions process, the program looks for learners with strong academic records, maturity, motivation, leadership capabilities, and career potential. Primary post-graduation placement organizations include health systems, hospitals, academic medical centers, physician group practices, surgery centers, information technology companies, consulting firms, government agencies, insurance entities, and other points of health services delivery.
Whereas the residential master’s degree format is a traditional on-campus residential program, the executive master’s degree is offered in a hybrid model featuring both on-campus and distance learning. In both formats, emphasis is on fostering an individualized and collaborative culture of learning, mentoring, and professional development among students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other practitioners in order to prepare and enable transformational leadership in improving patient care quality, safety, value, and overall level of population health.
Implemented in 1965, the program is a member of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) and has been accredited since 1968 by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME), formerly Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration (ACEHSA).
Degrees Offered
Master's
On Campus Requires Campus Visits
Admission Criteria
Application Deadlines
| Entrance Term | Residential (on-campus) program | Executive (online) program |
| Fall | March 1 (Priority); Rolling after March 1 | Not accepting applications |
| Spring | December 1 (Priority); Rolling after December 1 | December 1 (Priority); Rolling after December 1 |
- A minimum of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution
- Undergraduate GPA: 3.0 during the last 60 hours of undergraduate course work and any subsequent graduate course work
- The Health Services Management Program recruits and accepts qualified applicants regardless of race, sex, age, physical ability or national origin.
Minimum Language Requirements
Click here to view the minimum English language proficiency test scores
| TOEFL IBT | IELTS Academic | Duolingo | PTE | Cambridge C1 Advanced | |
| Minimum English Test Scores | 100 | 7.0 | 120 | 66 | 190 |
Required Application Materials
For the Graduate School
- Completed Graduate School online application
- Unofficial Transcripts- As part of the application submission process, all applicants are required to upload unofficial copies of all post-secondary transcripts to the online application. Official transcripts are only required if accepted by the academic program.
- Official Results of English Proficiency Exams (International applicants only)
For the Health Administration
- 3 letters of recommendation
- Current resume or curriculum vitae
- Personal essay
- Official transcripts
- Official Results of English Proficiency Exams (International applicants only)
Joint Degrees
The residential MHA can be jointly pursued with the following degree programs: MS in Health Informatics and Bioinformatics, MBA, MPA, MS in Industrial Engineering, and JD in Law.
Graduate Certificate
100% Online
Officially approved as:
Stand Alone: Yes
Total Credit Hours: 12
Certificate description: The Graduate Certificate in Informatics for Public Health is designed to serve as a stand-alone certificate program for non-degree seeking students, public health care professionals and as an additional option for Master of Science in Health Informatics degree seeking students and Master of Public Health students. Courses taken for the certificate program are not intended to fulfill the requirements of any current graduate degree at MU. Students in the program will gain a basic knowledge of issues in public health informatics and competence in evaluating and discovering solutions for the current and future public health informatics challenges.
Certificate web site:
https://online.missouri.edu/degrees-programs/mu/medicine/informatics-public-health/grad-cert
Required Application Materials
For the Graduate School
- Completed Graduate School online application
- Unofficial Transcripts- As part of the application submission process, all applicants are required to upload unofficial copies of all post-secondary transcripts to the online application. Official transcripts are only required if accepted by the academic program.
- Official Results of English Proficiency Exams (International applicants only)
For the Informatics for Public Health Program
- Statement of purpose
- Resume or CV