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USI Master of Health Administration program adds 4 + 1 option

February 27, 2015

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for health services managers is projected to grow 23 percent during the next decade. This is much faster than the average for all occupations and other management occupations, according to Dr. Kevin Valadares, chair of the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program at the University of Southern Indiana. To that end, USI's MHA degree program is adding a new option to meet this growing need for healthcare managers: the MHA 4 + 1 option.

USI's current MHA program was launched in fall 2001, and the majority of the program is completed online with three weekend intensive meetings on campus each year. The program is intended to attract non-traditional working students with at least two years' work experience in healthcare.

Valadares said, "While the MHA program fully intends to continue to grow its current online model, which focuses on a non-traditional working student cohort, we also sees great benefit in expanding in a new direction. The benefits of the MHA 4 + 1 option are numerous and will allow bright, driven, USI undergraduate students from any discipline the opportunity to earn both a bachelor's degree and the MHA degree in five years."

Many disciplines have incorporated 4 + 1 or accelerated degree options, allowing students the ability to earn a graduate degree alongside a bachelor's degree in a shorter time period than it would take to pursue each degree separately. It is also less costly for students while maintaining continuity within the same University. For an example, an undergraduate pre-med student could delay entry into medical school for a year and earn an MHA degree during the interim to further their knowledge of the healthcare system.

Dr. Ann White, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions, said this addition to the MHA curriculum is indicative of how the college as a whole continues to evolve to meet student needs and the challenges of an ever-changing healthcare environment.

"The College of Nursing and Health Professions is always exploring innovative methods of delivering healthcare education," she said. "The MHA 4 + 1 option is an example of this. For some of our undergraduate students, this accelerated track to a master's degree will be a good fit."

Under the new curriculum, students will begin the MHA 4 + 1 option in the fall semester of their senior year, alongside their undergraduate studies. "They will immediately be immersed into a health practice environment, in concert with their MHA courses," said Dr. Valadares.

More information about the MHA 4+1 program admission requirements, please visit the MHA website.

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