Health Care Management and Administration Programs at Pennsylvania State University World Campus
Pennsylvania State University World Campus appears in our ranking of the Top 20 Master’s in Healthcare Management Online / Online MBA Healthcare Administration.
The Pennsylvania State University World Campus is the online division of Penn State University. It offers programs in many different fields that allow students to earn their degrees online. Undergrads with an interest in health management and administration can enroll in the university’s Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Administration program. This HPA program features 120 credits of online classes and includes an offline internship. The university asks that all HPA majors do an internship to gain some practical experience in health care administration. Many students in this program choose a minor in rehabilitation and human services. Courses in the HPA major include Financial Decisions in Health Care Organizations, Health Systems Management, Health Services Policy Issues and Health Care and Medical Needs.
Students with a bachelor’s degree in any health or science field can apply to the online Master of Health Administration program. This program has a concentration in health policy and administration. It features 49 credits of classes that students take over 28 months, including Financing Health Care, Health Services Organizational Behavior and Introduction to Health Services Organizations and Delivery. Though the program does not require a thesis, it does ask that students complete a final paper as part of a capstone course. Students must also do an independent study project and complete two residency sessions on the PSU campus in University Park, Pennsylvania.
The university also offers an online graduate certificate in hospital and health system preparedness, which can go along with the MHA program. This program includes just four required classes and one elective. The required courses include Public Health Preparedness for Disaster and Terrorist Emergencies and Public Health Preparedness and the Emergency Operations Plan. Students must pick an elective relating to biorisk or bioterrorism too. This program can also go along with the university’s Homeland Security online graduate program.
About Pennsylvania State University World Campus
The Pennsylvania State University established an online division now called Pennsylvania State University World Campus or PSU Online. This division took over the distance education programs once offered by the university. PSU established its first distance education program in 1892 as a way to help students study and earn their degrees without moving to University Park, Pennsylvania and its main campus. During the mid to late 1990s, the university switched to online courses and accepted students with internet connections into these courses. It now offers full degree programs for those students.
PSU Online is unique because it asks students to apply to Penn State and then to an online program. This ensures that students meet the basic requirements for admission and that they know what they want to study. All graduates receive a degree with the Penn State name and logo on it. U.S. News and World Report ranks PSU Online as being one of the best online programs for undergrads and for having some of the best online programs in engineering, business administration, and computer information technology. It also ranks as one of the best online schools for veterans.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus Accreditation Details
Both PSU and the PSU World Campus have regional accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). This is why students can transfer the credits they earn at PSU to another campus and why they can bring credits into a PSU program. It’s also one of the requirements for students hoping to receive financial aid from the federal government.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus Application Requirements
Students can only apply to the university’s HPA undergraduate program if they have a high school diploma or GED. They need to provide either high school transcripts or a GED transcript, but the university allows students to report their scores on the application. Only if they receive acceptance to the university do they need to provide their official transcripts. Students will need to enter an email address on the application site and verify the email is correct to set up an account before beginning the application. The PSU World Campus also encourages students to make sure they meet the technical requirements for online study before they apply.
Graduate students applying to the health administration program offered by the university must have a bachelor’s degree from an American university with regional accreditation or the equivalent type of accreditation from a college in another country. They do not need to provide test scores, but they do need to provide official transcripts that show they had a GPA of 3.0 or higher in college. The application asks students to enter the names, addresses and phone numbers for two references too. It will contact those references when making a final decision on the student’s application. Grad students will also write two essays of up to 500 words each based around questions and subjects listed on the application. There is an interview requirement also. Students applying to the certificate program must meet the same requirements.
Tuition and Financial Aid
The PSU World Campus charges different tuition rates for students who took more or less than 60 credits. Students with fewer credits will pay $555 per credit hour or a flat rate of $6,742 per semester. Once students reach the 60-credit mark, they’ll pay $596 per credit hour or $7,297 per semester. The university also charges a technology fee of up to $252 per term. Graduate students pay either $975 per credit hour or $11,700 per semester. They also pay fees of $86 to $252 per semester. Students in the graduate certificate program pay $886 per credit hour.
All PSU World Campus students can sign up for a payment plan that allows them to make several payments each year to cover their tuition and fees. They can also apply for financial aid with the FAFSA to see if the state or the federal government will give them any aid. The university offers a webinar that walks students through the process of applying for financial aid and shows them some of the aid they can get. Some special programs offer financial help to unemployed adults who want to go back to school. Students can get scholarships also. Scholarships and other types of aid offered by Pennsylvania State University World Campus cover the costs of the university’s health care administration and management degree programs.