MHA Program Metrics
[updated October 2022 to reflect data for the Fall 2022 cohort and prior academic years]
As part of its internal continuous quality assurance and performance monitoring processes and in response to reporting requirements to our accreditor, CAHME, and professional association (AUPHA), the UNC Charlotte MHA Program regularly monitors a number of program metrics.
Listed below are several measures that might be useful to students considering our program, along with any context needed to interpret this information within the UNC Charlotte environment.
Admission
Each of the past two years, we have received approximately 100 applications yielding a cohort of approximately 45 new MHA students, an increase from our historic average of 25-30. This growth coincided with both our elimination of our GRE requirement and the start of the pandemic. Only time will tell if this surge will be sustained.
In lieu of GRE scores, we now counsel applicants to address their quantitative, analytic, and verbal reasoning capacity within their admissions essay. The essay should provide context and perspective to our admissions committee as it completes a holistic review of the applicant’s portfolio, where strength in one area might offset weakness in another. This process places added emphasis on the applicant’s statement of purpose to 1) convince the committee that the program is appropriate given the applicant’s goals and objectives and 2) convince the committee that the applicant can be successful in the program. As detailed further below, competitive applicants to the program have an undergraduate GPA above 3.0.
For the cohort entering Fall 2022, approximately 80% of all applicants were offered admission. Accepted applicants had an average undergraduate GPA of 3.47 with most reporting 3 or fewer years of post-baccalaureate work experience.
Completion
The UNC Charlotte MHA program is 51 semester credits, including a 3-credit internship typically taken during the summer. Our Graduate School defines full-time as 9 credits per semester, with 12 credits being the maximum load. Thus, the MHA program is nominally a 6-semester program. However, the program can be –and typically is – completed in as little as two academic years (including summer), by taking the maximal load each semester.
We provide students 2-year (intensive full-time), 3-year (normal full-time), and 4-year (half-time) plans of study. Students individualize these plans with their academic advisors. Many students (approximately one-third) combine the MHA program with a graduate certificate or a second (dual) master’s degree. Some enter our program while completing their undergraduate degree at our university (early entry). Adding on these programs extends the expected time to completion by 1-4 semesters. In all cases, 6 years is the maximal time to complete that our Graduate School affords master’s candidates.
Of the 2021-22 graduating class (n=29)
- 76% were female
- 31% were racial/ethnic minorities (an additional 10% of the graduating cohort likely came from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds)
- 100% completed in the time expected for their specific program/plan of study
- 34% of these graduates pursued a dual degree or add-on certificate
- 21% of these graduates began as early-entry students
- The median time to degree of these graduates was 23 months
- The 80%ile of time to degree of these graduates was 28 months
The table below summarizes the progression of the last 5 entering cohorts (without differentiating among those entering early or those pursuing add-on certificates/dual degrees, or a part-time approach); all graduates have done so within the normal time allotted for their program of study.
|
Cohort |
Number Entering |
Graduated within |
Currently enrolled |
Other* |
|||
|
2yrs |
3yrs |
4yrs |
6yrs |
||||
|
Fall 2013-2017 (Combined) |
130 |
77 |
34 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
11 |
|
Fall 2018 |
24 |
11 |
12 |
- |
- |
0 |
1 |
|
Fall 2019 |
24 | 14 | 9 | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Fall 2020 | 30 | 19 | - | - | - | 9 | 2 |
| Fall 2021 | 45 | - | - | - | - | 44 | 1 |
| Fall 2022 | 44 | - | - | - | - | 44 | |
*Includes inactive; withdrawn, transferred to a different program, etc.
Employment
Graduates of the UNC Charlotte MHA Program are highly competitive. Of the 2021-22 graduates (n =29):
- 97% reported employment in the field or continued training within three months of graduation. Of the 28 reporting employment:
- 18% are in post graduate fellowships
- 39% are employed in clinical settings (hospital/health systems/physician practices, etc.) other than in fellowships
- 18% are employed in healthcare consulting settings
- Others are employed in the long term care, health analytics, home health, or pharmaceutical sectors
- Reported (using broad ranges) a median starting salary of $42,500*
*Of note, only a small number of respondents (< 5) reported salaries as part of this year’s survey, likely understating the true median value.