Comparing the differences between MHA and MBA degrees 

For healthcare professionals who want to enhance their careers and prepare for leadership positions, a master’s degree is often good preparation for new opportunities. That’s particularly true for individuals pursuing business or administration careers. Two popular degree options are the Master of Health Administration (MHA) and the Master of Business Administration (MBA).

If you envision a leadership role in your future, you may be weighing the MHA vs. MBA. Depending on your career goals, you might even be considering the dual-degree MHA/MBA program that combines the skills and knowledge of both advanced degrees

While MHAs and MBAs do have some overlap, they also have significantly different foci. Let’s walk through the details of these postgraduate healthcare degrees and which one might be better suited for you.

The Master of Health Administration is a specialized program that focuses on specific skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in the healthcare industry’s administrative side.

Within an MHA program, students learn about managing teams of healthcare professionals, making operational decisions, handling legal compliance and addressing a healthcare employer’s financial and business needs.

We spoke with Heather Steiness, PhD, MPH, associate dean of the College of Health Professions at the University of Phoenix, about what the day-to-day duties look like: “Healthcare administrative professionals can work in hospitals, clinics, health systems, insurance agencies, nursing homes, government agencies or other environments in which specialized healthcare administrative skills are required. Healthcare administrators partner with other health system personnel to help ensure efficient and effective operations and the best possible patient outcomes.”

Students pursuing an MHA typically take courses in healthcare policy and in law and medical ethics to prepare for the changing regulatory landscape of healthcare and complex patient issues that arise. Other topics include informatic systems, risk management, quality control and healthcare human resources.

Steiness notes: “HR in healthcare has to be able to deal with staffing issues related to the field. Currently, that includes high levels of burnout and difficulty in hiring staff as people drop out of the field or choose not to go into healthcare.”

Along with human resources, strategy and finance classes typically round out the curriculum.

Potential careers for MHA graduates include health management information director, health manager and practice administrator. Steiness notes that health management information directors typically oversee patient care data while health managers and practice administrators typically overlap in their responsibilities of ensuring healthcare system operations run smoothly.

A Master of Business Administration is a popular degree program that prepares students with skills necessary for leadership or manager roles in their industries.

MBA programs focus on leadership, decision-making, strategic development and management. Students develop those skills by studying finance and management topics, value creation and marketing, management styles, human resources, leadership, analytics, business law, budgeting and accounting.

MBAs can prepare you for many different roles, but common jobs for graduates include positions as business managers, operations directors, or other executive and management roles.

From a practical standpoint, the MBA and MHA programs at University of Phoenix offer markedly different courses. MBA candidates, for example, take classes focused on the digital economy (ECO/535), corporate finance (FIN/571), and opportunity evaluation and value creation (MGT/576).

Meanwhile, MHA courses focus on topics like navigating regulatory environments (MHA/508), leading with authenticity in the health sector (MHA/542) and creating a sustainable legacy through healthy communities (MHA/560).

How long does it take to complete an MBA or MHA?

At University of Phoenix, the program length is 17 months to earn an MHA through full-time study. An MBA program length is 16 months, but you may be eligible to earn credit for work experience or previously completed courses, and thus reduce the time to earn the degree.

In addition to the traditional methods of online study, UOPX offers competency-based MBA and MHA programs. These degrees can equip qualifying students with advanced skills in 12 months, but the format and routine skill assessments aren’t for everyone.

For individuals who want maximum flexibility to choose a career in business or health, a dual MHA/MBA program can offer a pathway. An online MHA/MBA program from University of Phoenix combines the foundational finance and administrative skills into one curriculum that can meet business healthcare leaders’ needs and equip them with skills for their future.

Understanding the differences between the two degrees can help you decide what to do with an MBA (or an MHA). Each can help prepare you for different roles. MBA graduates often pursue careers as the following:

• Business manager: Business managers oversee organizations’ efficiency. That includes creating budgets, crafting business and marketing strategies, and performing human resources tasks.
• General manager (GM) and operations manager: General managers oversee several departments, often forming policies and managing operational tasks. Operations managers share many of these responsibilities, although their job duties may happen at a higher level than a store or individual site.
• Administrative director: Administrative directors’ primary responsibilities include devising records management and training protocols. They may also coordinate an organization’s daily operations. In some cases (such as with small businesses), directors may take on work that a company’s chief executive typically handles.

MHA degrees, meanwhile, can give you skills to thrive in one (or more) of the following jobs:

• Health information management director: Health information management directors keep patient records databases complete and accurate. They also oversee access to the data.
• Health manager: A health manager might also have the title of medical and health services manager. Primary job duties involve overseeing different parts of healthcare systems, such as specific clinical areas or entire facilities. They also help ensure regulatory compliance and supervise staff.
• Practice administrator: While practice administrators and managers share several duties, administrators focus on the business elements of operations. In many cases, they tackle higher-level administrative functions, strategic planning and financial management.

The jobs themselves are often different, but how does the earning potential between MBAs and MHAs stack up?

For the roles closely aligned with MBA graduates, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) offers the following salary ranges as of May 2023:

• Business managers: Between $62,470 and $188,820 (with a median wage of $106,470)
• General and operations managers: Between $46,340 and $232,110 (with a median wage of $101,280)
• Administrative directors: Between $62,470 and $188,820 (with a median wage of $106,470)

While BLS doesn’t break down careers for health information management directors, health managers or practice administrators in the same way it does for MBA-aligned careers, medical and health services managers earned between $67,900 and $216,750 (with a median wage of $110,680) in May 2023.

Salaries are just one aspect of determining a career path. How does the job outlook compare for these roles? Business managers and administrative directors are projected to see 5% growth between 2022 and 2032, while general and operations managers are projected to see 3% growth over that period.

The job outlook for medical and health services managers is more robust: BLS projects 28% growth between 2022 and 2032.

Salary ranges are not specific to students or graduates of University of Phoenix. Actual outcomes vary based on multiple factors, including prior work experience, geographic location and other factors specific to the individual. University of Phoenix does not guarantee employment, salary level or career advancement. BLS data is geographically based. Information for a specific state/city can be researched on the BLS website.

BLS Occupational Employment Projections, 2022-2032 is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This data reflects BLS’ projections of national (not local) conditions. These data points are not specific to University of Phoenix students or graduates.