Health Care Management

Types of Degrees Health Care Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many health care management graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	14,169
Associate Degree	2,087
Basic Certificate	617
Undergraduate Certificate	13

What Health Care Management Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, health care management majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Health Care Management Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Health Care Management Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to health care management:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Time Management - Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Abilities for Health Care Management Majors

A major in health care management will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Health Care Management?

The major attracts more women than men. About 93% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of health care management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	43
Black or African American	829
Hispanic or Latino	248
White	648
International Students	8
Other Races/Ethnicities	311

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Health Care Management, too. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Health Care Management Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Health Care Management majors often go into careers with median salaries of $113,730. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Health Care Management

Some degrees associated with health care management may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to health care management have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	19.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	65.4%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	3.9%
Master’s Degree	11.5%

Online Health Care Management Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 766 schools offered some type of health care management program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	12	4
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	112	59
Bachelor’s Degree	140	50
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	352	156
Post-Master’s	31	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	31	14
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	0

Is a Degree in Health Care Management Worth It?

The median salary for a health care management grad is $113,730 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 185% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,476,600 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Health Care Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to health care management.

Major	Number of Grads
Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder	10,149
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	9,623
Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller	8,186
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant & Medical Secretary	8,049
Medical Office Assistant/Specialist	4,893
Medical Office Management/Administration	3,555
Hospital & Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,088
Health Information Management	2,688
Other Health & Medical Administrative Services	1,870
Medical/Health Management & Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,176
Medical Reception/Receptionist	781
Long Term Care Administration/Management	275
Medical Office Computer Specialist/Assistant	224
Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist	198
Clinical Research Coordinator	127
Health Unit Coordinator/Ward Clerk	94
Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician	23
Health Unit Manager/Ward Supervisor	20
Health/Medical Claims Examiner	15
Disease Registry Data Management	8

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.