Degree Programs
Master of Health Administration–Doctor of Jurisprudence (M.H.A.-J.D.)
This course of study addresses the health services’ need for professionals who understand the legal and administrative frameworks necessary to function successfully as health lawyers or health services administrators.
Individuals must independently apply and be accepted into both the School of Public Health MHA program and the McKinney School of Law JD program. Once students have been accepted into this joint degree program, they should meet with their academic advisors to plan the course sequencing. The program includes 39 credit hours in PBHL courses, and 82 credit hours in law courses.
Application and admission
Applicants must apply for admission to each school and must meet the admission criteria published in each school's bulletin. Normally, applicants should apply to both the School of Law-Indianapolis and the School of Public Health-Indianapolis at the same time. However, a person enrolled in the School of Law may apply for admission to the graduate program in health administration up to the end of the second year of law study (approximately 57 credit hours).
A student formally enrolled in the study of health administration may seek admission to the School of Law-Indianapolis up to the end of the first year of full-time study leading to the award of the Master of Health Administration (approximately 30 hours of graduate credit).
Academic standing
Grade point averages in the School of Law-Indianapolis and the School of Public Health-Indianapolis are computed separately. To continue in the joint program, the student must meet the academic standards in each school. A student failing in one school but meeting academic standards in the other may complete course work for the degree in the school in which the student is able to meet the academic standards.
Such completion must be according to the same conditions (credit hours, internship, etc.) required of regular (noncombination) degree candidates. Students are eligible for honors in the School of Law based on the criteria of their school.
Residency
The student customarily completes the first 34 credit hours in the School of Law-Indianapolis. Thereafter, the student divides the remaining course work between the two schools, taking health administration courses and law courses concurrently. Thus, the student has a continuing educational experience in both schools.
Program requirements (121 credit hours)
MHA course requirements (39 credit hours)
- PBHL-H 507 Human Resources & Organizational Behavior in Health Care (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 508 Managing Healthcare Accounting Information for Decision-Making (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 509 Financial Management Principles of Healthcare (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 514 Health Economics (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 521 Applied Data Analytics in Health Administration (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 612 Marketing Health Services Delivery (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 623 Capstone in Health Administration (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 624 Developing Strategic Capability (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 628 Healthcare Information Systems (3 credits)
- PBHL-P 506 Public Health & Community-Focused Leadership (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 531 Population Health Management & Value-based Health Insurance (3 credits)
- PBHL-H 735 Research in Health Administration (3 credits)
- Choose (1) 3 credit hour elective from the list below:
- PBHL-P 510 Introduction to Public Health (3 credits)
- PBHL-P 504 U.S. Healthcare Sys. & Health Policy (3 credits)
J.D. requirements (82 credit hours)
Students are required to complete 82 credit hours of law courses and to satisfy all requirements for the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree.
Admissions
MHA students are admitted for matriculation in the fall of each year. The MHA program does not accept applications for admission in the spring term. You may apply to the Master of Health Administration Program online using either HAMPCAS or SOPHAS. HAMPCAS is the Healthcare Administration, Management and Policy Centralized Application Service. SOPHAS is the centralized Schools of Public Health Application Service. Preference is not given to one system over the other. The application deadlines are:
- International application deadline: February 1
- Priority deadline: February 15
- Final deadline: May 31
Application reviews begin the first week of October. In order to be considered for first-round interviews in November, applications must be completed by mid-September. Beginning in January, interviews are held monthly, until the class is filled. All students who apply to the MHA program by the priority deadline, February 15, will be automatically considered for scholarships.
Admission criteria
- Baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college with an expected grade point average of 3.0 (official transcript).
- Official GRE scores.
- Personal statement
- Résumé or CV
- Three letters of reference
- Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in required prerequisite courses prior to enrolling. Required undergraduate prerequisite courses include:
- An undergraduate microeconomics course (e.g., ECON-E 201: Microeconomics or pre-approved equivalent) must be completed before you will be permitted to enroll in PBHL-H 514: Health Economics.
- An undergraduate accounting course (e.g., PBHL-H 200: Health Care Accounting or pre-approved equivalent) must be completed before you will be permitted to enroll in PBHL-H 508: Managing Healthcare Accounting Information for Decision Making.
- An undergraduate statistics course (e.g., PBHL-B 300: Introduction to Biostatistics or pre-approved equivalent) must be completed before you will be permitted to enroll in PBHL-H 518: Statistical Methods for Health Service.
- Competent written and oral communication skills.
Students meeting these requirements are not guaranteed admission.
Eligible applicants may be invited to an on-campus interview day. Due to limited interview spots, it is important that you submit your application early, in order to secure an interview spot.
Please note that all applications must be verified by HAMPCAS or SOPHAS prior to the May 31 deadline. Applications generally take four to five weeks to be verified by HAMPCAS and SOPHAS. It would be to your benefit to have your application fully complete and submitted by April 30. Applications that are not fully completed, including verification by HAMPCAS or SOPHAS, by May 31 are not guaranteed full consideration by the MHA admission committee.
Admission requirements
- Personal Statement
- Résumé
- Transcripts
- Recommendations
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
All applicants are required to submit official GRE scores earned within the past five years.
- A minimum total score (verbal and quantitative scores combined) of 301 is expected
- A minimum of score 3.5 is expected on the analytical writing section of the exam.
It is preferred that applicants score at or above the 50th percentile in each section of the exam.
- When applying via HAMPCAS use GRE code: 0416.
- When applying via SOPHAS use GRE code: 0167.
The following exams can be substituted in place of the GRE: LSAT, GMAT, or MCAT.
International applicants
All applicants with foreign academic credentials must provide a World Education Services (WES) ICAP course-by-course evaluation of those credentials. Because this process can take some time, applicants should submit their transcripts to WES at least one month in advance of the application deadline (January 1).
Through special arrangements with SOPHAS, WES will deliver its credential evaluation report directly to SOPHAS by secure, electronic transmission. This expedites the delivery of the evaluation report as well as images of the applicant's verified transcripts to SOPHAS and allows SOPHAS to process the report most efficiently.
Updated: April 2024
