Health Care Administration

Running the parts of health care that are not clinical — budgets, staffing, quality, compliance, revenue and the physical plant — in hospitals, group practices, health plans, long-term care and public health. ⚠⚠ The largest degree footprint in Florida's health administrative family by a wide margin: 24 public institutions and 1,293 credentials a year, 741 of them bachelor's and 343 master's. ⚠⚠⚠ And unusually accessible — TWENTY Florida College System institutions carry upper-division coursework in it, against nine universities.

The degrees this program covers

⚠⚠⚠ THE STATE COLLEGES ARE WHERE THIS DEGREE MOSTLY LIVES, AND THAT IS UNUSUAL. Measured over the statewide course file, 20 Florida College System institutions carry upper-division HSA coursework — CF, Daytona State, Eastern Florida, FSCJ, Florida SouthWestern, Gulf Coast, Indian River, Lake-Sumter, Miami Dade, Northwest Florida, Palm Beach, Pensacola, Pasco-Hernando, Polk, State College of Florida, Santa Fe, St Johns River, St Petersburg, Seminole State and Valencia — against 9 universities. ⚠ For most baccalaureate subjects that ratio runs the other way. It means you can very often complete this degree near home, at state-college tuition, without transferring. ⚠⚠ THE CEILING IS NARROW WHERE THE BASE IS WIDE. The graduate credential the executive side of the field recognises is a master's accredited by CAHME, the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, and Florida's CAHME-accredited programmes sit at UCF, FIU, UNF, UF and USF — all State University System. ⚠ Verify the current list with CAHME rather than with a school; it is the authority and it changes. ⚠⚠⚠ AND ONE SETTING IS LICENSED. Florida licenses NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS under chapter 468, part II, and s. 468.1695 gives the health administration major a concrete advantage: a baccalaureate majoring in health care administration, health services administration or an equivalent major needs a 1,000-hour training programme, while any other bachelor's needs 2,000 hours. Hospital, clinic, group-practice and health-plan management carry no Florida licence at all.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Health Care Administrator

Running the non-clinical half of health care — budgets, staffing, quality, compliance, revenue, regulators. $123,860 median, 616,200 employed, 62,100 openings a year, growing much faster than average. ⚠⚠ There is no required major: Census microdata puts HEALTH first at 169,319 people, BUSINESS second at 75,396 and PSYCHOLOGY third at 47,154. ⚠⚠⚠ But Florida statute puts a price on the choice — on the nursing home side, a health administration major halves the required training programme from 2,000 hours to 1,000.

Public Health Professional

⚠⚠⚠ The job most students picture when they say public health is the smallest one in the federal data. Epidemiologists: 12,300 employed in the whole country, about 800 openings a year, and entry is effectively 100% graduate. The jobs are in health education (71,800, $64,070) and community health work (65,100, $51,850, high-school entry). ⚠⚠ Florida's own numbers say the same thing from the other side — 579 master's degrees against 560 bachelor's, at just 8 institutions, every one a university.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Hospitality, Restaurant and Event Manager

⚠ Not a route — named as an honest comparison for a student weighing service-sector management degrees. $123,860 against lodging's $69,250, 24 Florida institutions with 20 state colleges carrying the upper-division work, and no two-city concentration.

Nurse Practitioner and Advanced Practice Nurse

⚠ The other graduate direction, and the more reachable one part-time: 24 Florida institutions with 20 state colleges carrying the upper-division coursework, against 9 for advanced practice nursing. ⚠⚠ Nurse executives sit in the medical and health services manager occupation at a $123,860 median — a real alternative for a nurse who wants off shift work without a clinical doctorate.

Physician

⚠ Not a route in, but the commonest route out of full-time clinical practice — physician executives sit inside the medical and health services manager occupation. Named so a twelve-year plan is made with its exits visible.

Social Worker

⚠ Where the macro side leads. BLS puts "social workers, all other" — largely policy and programme administration — at $71,900, above both clinical specialties, and this is the degree that formalises the move.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Health Information Management 31 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The adjacent degree, and students mix them up constantly. Health information management owns the RECORD and leads to the RHIT and RHIA credentials; health care administration runs the ORGANISATION and leads to no credential at all except in nursing homes. ⚠ HIM is the more credentialed route and the smaller job; administration is the larger job and the bigger salary.

Nursing 78 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ Not a required route, but the commonest real one and the least advertised. Census microdata puts HEALTH as the largest undergraduate field among medical and health services managers at 169,319 people, and a large share of that is clinicians who moved into management. ⚠ A nurse who adds an administration degree arrives knowing what the operation actually does, which nobody can teach in a classroom — and Florida teaches nursing at 78 institutions.

Business Administration and Management 45 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The second-largest feeder by a long way: 75,396 medical and health services managers hold a BUSINESS undergraduate degree against 169,319 in health fields. ⚠ It is a genuine route, and in health plans, finance and revenue-cycle roles it is arguably the stronger one — but note s. 468.1695: on the nursing home side a non-health major doubles the required training programme from 1,000 hours to 2,000.

Medical Office Administration 36 Florida schools

⚠ The entry-level version of the same work and a real starting point — front-office staff who understand scheduling, insurance verification and referrals are exactly who gets promoted into practice management. ⚠⚠ Named because the route upward from it is this degree, and 20 state colleges carry it.

Emergency Medical Services 39 Florida schools

⚠ Named for one specific reason: EMS and fire agencies promote from the field into operations and administration, and the degree that formalises it is this one. ⚠⚠ The same pattern holds across the clinical services — a paramedic, a respiratory therapist or a radiographer who wants out of shift work usually arrives here.

Public Health 14 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ The neighbouring degree, and the comparison every student should make because the two run OPPOSITE on availability. Public health is taught at 8 Florida institutions, all universities; health care administration at 24, with 20 state colleges carrying the upper-division coursework. ⚠ Similar subject matter at the policy end, entirely different access — and administration pays a $123,860 median against health education's $64,070.

Psychology 10 Florida schools

⚠⚠ An underrated destination and a measured one: Census microdata puts PSYCHOLOGY third among the undergraduate fields held by medical and health services managers, at 47,154 people, behind health and business. ⚠ Median $123,860, and no licence required outside nursing homes.

Advanced Practice Nursing 9 Florida schools

⚠ The other graduate direction an experienced nurse takes, and the more common one past a certain age. Nurse executives and directors of nursing sit inside the medical and health services manager occupation at a $123,860 median. ⚠⚠ 24 Florida institutions teach it, 20 of them state colleges — far more reachable part-time than a DNP.

Social Work 9 Florida schools

⚠ Where the macro side of social work leads — programme management in behavioural health, child welfare agencies and non-profits. ⚠⚠ Named because BLS puts "social workers, all other" — largely policy and administration — at $71,900, the highest of the specialties, above both clinical mental health and child welfare.

Hospitality and Tourism Management 23 Florida schools

⚠ Not a route, and named only as an honest comparison for a student weighing service-sector management degrees. Health care administration reaches a $123,860 median against lodging management's $69,250, is taught at 24 Florida institutions with 20 state colleges carrying the upper-division work, and is far less geographically concentrated.

Medicine 6 Florida schools

⚠ Not a route into medicine, but an increasingly common route out of clinical practice: physician executives are counted inside the medical and health services manager occupation. ⚠⚠ Named because a student weighing a twelve-year training path should know what the exits look like.

Florida public institutions offering this program

24 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Associate, Bachelor's, Certificate (<12 weeks), Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Doctorate (research/scholarship), Master's, Postbaccalaureate certificate. A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Broward College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

College of Central Florida

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Bachelor's · Master's

Florida Atlantic University

Bachelor's · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

Florida Gulf Coast University

Bachelor's

Florida International University

Bachelor's · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

Indian River State College

Associate · Bachelor's

Lake-Sumter State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Miami Dade College

Associate

Northwest Florida State College

Associate

Palm Beach State College

Associate

Pensacola State College

Associate

Saint Johns River State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Santa Fe College

Associate · Bachelor's

Seminole State College of Florida

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

South Florida State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

St Petersburg College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

University of Central Florida

Bachelor's

University of Florida

Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of North Florida

Bachelor's · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of South Florida

Bachelor's · Master's

University of West Florida

Master's

Valencia College

Certificate (<12 weeks) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 22 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.