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Major · Health Professions

A bachelor’s pipeline into healthcare admin roles

Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management (CIP 51.0702) is a bachelor’s-dominant major training students for administrative roles in hospitals, clinics, and care facilities. About 2,279 students complete it across just 46 institutions, with bachelor’s graduates earning around $60,828 five years out — well below the BLS-listed Medical and Health Services Manager median because most management roles arrive only after years of experience.

Schools offering
46
Annual completions
2,279
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$50k

About this major

Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management (CIP 51.0702) is a bachelor’s-dominant major that prepares students for administrative roles inside hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other care facilities. The CIP definition organizes coursework around facilities planning, business management, financial management and insurance, fund-raising and marketing, public relations, human resources and labor relations, healthcare facility operations, principles of healthcare delivery, and applicable law. Most accredited programs require an administrative internship — typically with a hospital department, large clinic system, or long-term care operator — before graduation.

The major fits students drawn to the operations side of healthcare rather than direct patient care. It rewards comfort with regulation and reimbursement complexity, attention to documentation, and patience with the slow cycles of healthcare process change. The day-to-day of bachelor’s graduates ranges across patient-experience coordination, scheduling, credentialing, revenue-cycle analysis, and small-clinic management.

One grounded observation about scale and the earnings picture: only 46 institutions report this CIP, and the data is dominated by large online programs — University of Phoenix-Arizona alone produces 1,418 completions a year, with Grand Canyon University adding 338. That distribution signals the CIP serves working adults completing a credential more than traditional pre-career undergraduates. Bachelor’s graduates earn $60,828 five years out, well below the $117,960 median for Medical and Health Services Managers — because that named target is a mid-career role typically reached after 5-10 years of experience and frequently a master’s (MHA, MBA, or MPH). Treat the bachelor’s number as the entry-level reality and the management-tier wage as a long-term destination, not a starter.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Medical and health services managers $118k +23.2% Bachelor's degree
Facilities managers $105k +3.8% Bachelor's degree
Business teachers, postsecondary $97k +5.7% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$50k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$41k

Bachelor's

$61k

Who this major is for

Good signs this major fits: you’re drawn to the operations side of healthcare without wanting bedside patient care, you can handle regulatory complexity (HIPAA, payer rules, accreditation) without losing patience, and you understand that the management-tier roles — Medical and Health Services Manager at $117,960 — sit 5-10 years out, not at year one. The bachelor’s pays $60,828 five years out and a master’s (MHA, MBA, or MPH) is the realistic ramp into senior management. Programs at CUNY Lehman (184 completions) and St. Joseph’s (51) offer in-person traditional pathways for students who want classroom-based learning.

Reasons to pause: the headline wage ($117,960 for healthcare managers) is a Management Trap — the role is mid-career, not entry-level, and treating it as a starter wage will mislead the financial calculation. The data is also dominated by University of Phoenix and Grand Canyon online completions, which signal a credential-completion pattern for working adults; if you’re a traditional student, look carefully at smaller in-person programs and at the broader CIP 51.0701 (Health/Health Care Administration/Management, 13,592 completions) before committing. If you’re unsure which administrative lane you want, the broader CIP keeps more doors open.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
University of Phoenix-Arizona Phoenix, AZ 0 1,418 1,418
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ 0 338 338
CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY 0 184 184
St. Joseph's University-New York Brooklyn, NY 0 51 51
CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY 0 35 35
Palo Alto College San Antonio, TX 28 0 28
University of Toledo Toledo, OH 0 27 27
Clayton State University Morrow, GA 0 25 25
Metropolitan College of New York New York, NY 0 25 25
University of Southern Indiana Evansville, IN 0 15 15
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Health/Health Care Administration/Management

13,592 completions/yr

Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller

5,266 completions/yr

Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician

3,421 completions/yr

Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary

3,317 completions/yr

Operations Management and Supervision

2,998 completions/yr

Health and Medical Administrative Services, Other

1,950 completions/yr

Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder

1,539 completions/yr

Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator

1,511 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What does a healthcare administration major actually study?
Coursework blends business fundamentals — accounting, finance, marketing, HR, operations — with healthcare-specific content: facility operations, healthcare law and regulation (HIPAA, EMTALA), payer systems and reimbursement, quality and patient safety, and health information systems. The CIP definition lists facilities planning, fund-raising, public relations, labor relations, and applicable law as core threads. Many programs require an administrative internship at a hospital, clinic system, or long-term care facility.
Will I actually run a hospital with this degree?
Not at first — and probably not for years. Medical and Health Services Manager (the named target at $117,960) is a mid-career role earned after 5-10 years of experience, often a master’s (MHA, MBA, or MPH), and successive promotions. Entry-level destinations from a bachelor’s look more like department coordinator, practice manager assistant, revenue-cycle analyst, credentialing specialist, or admissions coordinator. The bachelor’s opens the door; the corner office takes longer.
What jobs do graduates land at entry level?
Common bachelor’s-entry roles include practice administrator assistant, department coordinator (HR, scheduling, quality), revenue-cycle analyst, medical office manager, credentialing specialist, patient experience coordinator, and admissions coordinator at small clinics or hospital systems. Pay typically starts in the $45,000-$60,000 range — the packet’s $60,828 bachelor’s median tracks that. Movement into manager and director roles takes years and frequently requires a graduate degree.
Should I get a master’s (MHA, MBA, MPH)?
If your long-term target is hospital senior management, a master’s is effectively the credential — most C-suite and senior administrator roles list MHA, MBA, or MPH as expected. Some bachelor’s grads gain 2-5 years of experience first and then pursue an executive MHA. The bachelor’s alone can sustain a long career in mid-level operations roles, but the management-track ceiling is real.
Why does University of Phoenix dominate this CIP so heavily?
The packet shows University of Phoenix-Arizona producing 1,418 completions — more than half the national total — with Grand Canyon University adding 338. Both run large online for-profit/non-profit-private bachelor’s programs aimed at working adults already in healthcare administrative roles. The pattern signals that this CIP is heavily a credential-completion path for adults, not a traditional pre-career undergraduate major. For traditional students, smaller programs at CUNY Lehman (184), St. Joseph’s (51), and CUNY City Tech (35) may be more appropriate.
How does this compare to Health/Health Care Administration (CIP 51.0701)?
Health/Health Care Administration/Management (51.0701) is the broader sibling at 13,592 completions and is the more common general healthcare-administration credential. Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management (51.0702) is narrower — focused specifically on hospital and care-facility operations rather than population health, public health, or insurance/payer-side admin. If you’re unsure which lane you want, the broader 51.0701 keeps more doors open.