March 29, 2024

Alaska Pacific University

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Health Care Administration and Management Programs at Alaska Pacific University

Alaska Pacific University appears in our ranking of the Top 20 Graduate Programs in Health Care Management in the West.

Health care administration and management are among the fastest growing fields in this industry today. Hospitals and other types of medical facilities need workers with good leadership skills who can train and work with both patients and employees. Alaska Pacific University offers both an undergrad and a graduate degree program in this field.

The first of those programs is its Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Management. This accredited program follows an accelerated format that allows students to graduate faster. They will take both online and evening classes. It allows students to learn more about the health industry, helps them develop critical thinking skills and teaches them how to collaborate and work with others.

In addition to general education classes, students must complete 52 credits of courses in the health care administration and management concentration and in business. Those courses include Health Services Administration Overview, Critical Thinking for Management, Health Services Knowledge Management and Systems in Health Services Overview. Students will also do a health care capstone project.

Alaska Pacific University offers a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Health Services Administration too. Classes take place online at the same time that they take place on the campus and allow students to sit in on classes and watch professors performing live. They can use webcams and software to talk with their professors too. Students will watch those sessions live three days a week for six weeks. They get up to two weeks to complete any major projects assigned in their classes. The required business courses they will take include Corporate Finance, Marketing and Social Media and Financial Statement Analysis. Health services administration concentration students will take courses on the regulations and laws in the health care industry. Alaska Pacific University offers its MBA with a thesis and a non-thesis track.

About Alaska Pacific University

Alaska Pacific University is a university in Anchorage affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Established in 1957 as Alaska Methodist University, it opened with just a small number of students and a very small campus. That campus grew after the university received a donation of more than 900 acres of land. To reflect the commitment that it has to all types of students, it changed its name to Alaska Pacific University in the 1970s. Though it retains its affiliation with the United Methodist Church, it does not ask students to attend church services or take a number of religion classes the same way that similar colleges do.

Called both Alaska Pacific and APU, it now has an Early Honors program that allows high school seniors to take classes that award them both high school and college credit. It follows a schedule that includes both 11-week and four-week classes each semester. Though some students come from other countries and states, most of its students are Alaska natives. Alaska Pacific is a very small university with a liberal arts emphasis that has an enrollment of fewer than 800 students.

Alaska Pacific University Accreditation Details

Despite its small size, APU still has the regional accreditation that allows students to seek out financial aid. That accreditation is from the NWCCU. It also has approval from Alaska and its Department of Education to design degree and certificate programs and to grant degrees and certificates to its students. All the business and management programs at APU have accreditation from the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE) too.

Alaska Pacific University Application Requirements

To help students understand all the benefits of choosing its campus, APU hosts travel events every year. Admissions counselors travel to states all across the country to meet with students. Those counselors can also help them fill out the APU application and apply for financial aid. Students can also request information online, over the phone or through email and attend special events on the university’s campus too.

Undergrads will complete the APU application and submit their transcripts. Though they can use unofficial transcripts when they first apply, the university will ask for final transcripts before students can actually start classes. Students also have the option of providing their test scores. Students applying for early decision or an honors program must submit a transcript and a personal essay. The university will accept a school writing sample in lieu of the essay.

Graduate students will also submit the online APU application and their transcripts. The deadline for MBA students is May 1 for priority applications and August 1 for all other students. This deadline extends to December 1 for spring applications and to May 1 for summer applications. Students will usually need to supply a valid and recent resume, letters of recommendation and a writing sample or an essay too. Some MBA candidates will need to arrange for an interview with a member of the business department faculty.

Tuition and Financial Aid

The total cost of completing a basic bachelor’s program at APU is $29,700 per year. Early Honors students pay $15,000 a year. Students pay a flat $445 per credit hour rate to take any undergrad courses through the university. If they take graduate classes, they pay $695 per credit hour. The MBA program and its health concentration charge a lower rate of $630 per credit hour. Undergrads on active duty status qualify for a reduced rate too of $250 per credit hour.

APU recommends that students file the FAFSA by the end of February or the beginning of March. Financial aid packages include a variety of government awards based on how much their families can contribute to their costs. Undergrads usually receive awards that include federal work-study, loans, and grants. Graduate students can borrow federal funds or get loans from other lenders.

The university also offers quite a few different scholarships. One is the Ruth E. Sutton Scholarship that provides funds to students who are under the age of 24 and live full-time in Alaska. Another scholarship awards a cash prize to an older student who is also a woman and going back to school. Other scholarships base the awards on the grades the student earned in high school or college. Alaska Pacific University offers scholarships and financial aid packages based on both the need and merit of students in its health care management programs.