Home Master's in Health Administration Degree Programs Masters in Health Administration in California

Masters in Health Administration in California

If you’re looking for an exciting and challenging career in the healthcare field, healthcare administration may be right for you. Medical and health services managers supervise healthcare facilities or departments within facilities and work in a variety of settings including general hospitals, specialty hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and physicians’ offices.

With a healthcare administration degree, you can prepare for a variety of roles. To learn more about the health administration schools in California, click on a school name below, submit your information and a school representative will contact you to answer any questions you may have.

A medical and health services manager wears many hats. These professionals are responsible for the fiscal operations of their facility as well as attending board meetings, supervising personnel, recruiting and hiring, administering programs, monitoring healthcare equipment usage, and determining the need for new or additional equipment.

A competent medical and health services manager will be able to keep up with changing trends in medical advancements, technology, and insurance and governmental regulations. Good communication and time management skills are also important. Becoming a medical and health services manager requires a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management; however, some employers require a master’s degree in healthcare management.

Education for Healthcare Administration in California

You will find that admission to a graduate program in healthcare management typically requires completion of a bachelor’s degree along with submission of a resume, letters of recommendation, and test scores from the GRE or GMAT exams.

Some programs may require prerequisite courses or a certain undergraduate grade-point average. The time frame needed to complete a master’s degree in healthcare administration is generally two years of full-time study, although some programs may be shorter or longer.

A master’s degree in healthcare administration can be completed either online or in a traditional classroom, and some universities even offer students a choice of programs. In California, there are many different universities to choose from when pursuing a master’s degree in healthcare administration as you can see in the list at the bottom of the page.

When you choose a program, it is important to verify that it is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). Also, many institutions have internship opportunities available so you can gain real-world experience. If you are a working professional, many schools offer flexible class schedules, so you may be able to complete some of your courses online. Be sure to take all of these aspects into consideration when you are researching health administration graduate programs.

Career Outlook for Graduates in California

This rewarding career field is expected to have much faster than average job growth in the coming years. Medical and health services manager job openings are projected to increase by 24 percent between 2018 and 2028. Job growth in this field is likely due to an aging population with increasingly complex healthcare needs.

California has the second-largest number of individuals working as medical and health services managers in the nation. Currently, there are 42,200 medical and health services managers in the state. California is also the third-highest paying state for medical and health services managers, who have a median annual salary of $138,030.

Five of the top paying metropolitan areas in the United States for medical and health services managers are in California. The top five highest paying metropolitan areas in the United States are Vallejo-Fairfield, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Madera, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk Connecticut, and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward. Salina is the ninth-highest paying metropolitan area for medical and health services managers.

However, cities are not the only places in California where medical and health services managers earn very comfortable salaries. The Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California offers the third-highest non-metropolitan average salary in the United States for medical and health services managers, while the North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California comes in fifth nationally in this category.

Take the next step to earning your master’s degree and request information from the schools below. Compare multiple programs and find the best health administration program to help you reach your career goals and aspirations.

 

2020 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Medical and Health Services Managers.

Job growth projections sourced from California’s Employment Development Department and published in the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Long Term Occupational Projections (2018-2028) database. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expressly refers users to this source for state-specific job market data. Salary figures and job market projections reflect state data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed September 2021.

Health Administration Schools