In-Person Program

The mission of the Master of Health Administration (MHA) at Hofstra University is to prepare a community of powerful, practice-ready health care leaders through the provision and application of a health services knowledge base, communication skills, and leadership development.

Through collaboration with community stakeholders, MHA faculty, consisting of health services researchers and industry professionals, prepare students to apply evidence-based practices and become culturally competent, innovative administrators and health services leaders who advocate for health and health care equity. The program fosters leadership and communication skills through an integrative, educational experience that incorporates practical and essential health services knowledge with field-based applications and interactions with local, state, and national health services organizations and leaders. The program’s applied nature provides an educational curriculum that promotes leadership and critical thinking skills of all students from early to mid-careerists in health services administration and clinicians interested in leadership and management positions to those who are seeking a career change or have just graduated from an undergraduate program. All graduates will be able to contribute to health services organizations upon graduation and become successful leaders and advocates for patients, communities, and health services organizations.

The vision of the MHA program at Hofstra University is to become nationally recognized in the health services industry for its applied-based curriculum that fosters the development of innovative leaders, knowledgeable administrators, and effective communicators.

The MHA program will graduate students who have the knowledge and competencies expected by health services employers to provide high-quality health and health care services to diverse populations; who lead teams and organizations through a dynamic health services environment; and who are active community members contributing to the development of future health care leaders within and outside of their organizations.

Lifelong learning: We value learning and the continued pursuit of knowledge and improvement for all in our community. Gandhi tells us we should learn as if we will live forever. The educational curriculum will be reflective of this value to promote lifelong learning. We foster involvement of our students internally within the classroom, program, and University. We encourage student involvement in professional associations, community and health/healthcare-related professional programs, and services. And we continuously seek to employ and develop opportunities for our faculty to nurture the learning of students.

Scholarship: We value the process of scholarship. We strive to help students learn how to inextricably link their scholarly work with the decisions they make as health services leaders. Students will learn how to effectively communicate utilizing both oral and written channels. They will learn to utilize critical thinking and analytic skills, supported by scholarly research to achieve communication effectiveness in the competitive health services environment. Faculty are likewise expected to continue in their pursuit of lifetime learning and to conduct meaningful, scholarly research.

Application in learning and scholarship: We value applied experiences and believe that interacting with and learning from professionals in the health services field as well as engaging in practical experiences are central in developing the knowledge and skills required to be effective, efficient, and culturally component administrators and leaders.

Accountability: We believe leadership requires an openness to admit fallibility and acknowledging our dependence on others and that these traits are realized through accountability.

Respect: We value respect for oneself and others and believe that the ideas of all should be considered and valued. We believe trust and integrity are built upon respect.

Diversity and humanism: We value and celebrate the individuality of all people and believe that all should be treated with respect. The program seeks to instill in students the attributes of compassion, tolerance, respect, and empathy for others. We believe that all people should have equal opportunities. Emphasis is placed on understanding how biases and unequal opportunities have negatively affected underserved populations, with an exploration of creating equity in both health services and outcomes in these populations.

Innovation: We value innovation. As change occurs in health services, we value continuous evaluation of existing theories and models and encourage movement beyond the status quo to address challenges. We believe critical thinking is vital to innovation and strive to foster this skill among students, so that they are able to lead teams and organizations during times of change and transformation and create the innovations needed to address organizational challenges.

Teamwork: The success of the program is dependent on collaboration among the department, school, University, students, alumni, community stakeholders, local and regional health services partners, and providers. In the curriculum, collaboration is emphasized internally within an organization, and to entities in the external environment to achieve health care delivery system process and outcome goals and objectives.

Service: We believe that service to others inside and outside of the health services field is vital to personal and professional development and a key component of leadership. We value service to others, the professional community, and local communities. We are equally committed to instilling in students the need to provide service to and advocate for underserved communities and populations.