Healthcare Management Degrees Offered at St. Mary’s University
St. Mary’s University appears in our ranking of the Top 20 Online Healthcare Law Degree Programs.
At St. Mary’s University, undergrads can choose between several different pre-professional programs to get started on the healthcare management track. The university worked with the University of Texas Health San Antonio to create two nursing programs. One is designed for students to major in biology. They’ll take four years of biology and health science classes and then spend one year on the UT campus to complete their nursing degrees. In the second program, students spend three years to complete their degrees. Similar pre-professional programs are available in medicine, dentistry and physical therapy.
The main program available for those who want to work in healthcare management is the Master of Business Administration (MBA), which features 30 credits and five concentrations. Students can spend just 12 months in the program or up to 36 months. Students who choose the healthcare concentration will take five courses that are worth 12 credits, including Special Studies in Management and Ethics and Healthcare Management. In Visual Analytics and Management, students learn how to analyze data for professionals and patients. The concentration includes two lab courses too.
MBA students will also take the six classes in the business core. Marketing Management is a class that looks at the marketing that companies do. Students also take courses that teach them about finances and budgets and classes that deal with information technology. The university asks students to take courses relating to their concentrations as well as core business classes. To learn more about the program and to see the application requirements, students can request more information. They also have the option of touring the campus and meeting with their future professors.
About St. Mary’s University
St. Mary’s University is a private university in San Antonio, Texas that is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church through the Marianist order. Originally called St. Mary’s Institute, it opened in 1852 as a training school for young boys. Only 12 boys enrolled in the first year and took classes offered by five teachers. The institute would later add college degree programs, which caused it to split into two schools. A second campus opened in St. Louis and became home to the college. Known as St. Louis College and then St. Mary’s College, it also served as St. Mary’s Academy and then St. Mary’s University. After moving to San Antonio, the separate school became Central Catholic High School.
Known today as both St. Mary’s and SMU, the university has partnerships with the UT campus in San Antonio for students who want to study healthcare and nursing. While Forbes included SMU on a list of the best colleges in the United States, U.S. News and World Report ranked the university as the 21st best school in the western region. Washington Monthly also ranked St. Mary’s as one of the nation’s top graduate schools. SMU now has an enrollment of more than 3,800 students and offers more than 70 degree programs.
St. Mary’s University Accreditation Details
As St. Mary’s has regional accreditation, any student in need of financial aid can apply for a package that includes programs from the federal government. They will need to use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The regional accreditation SMU has comes from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It gives students the opportunity to transfer credits from a school with the same accreditation to SMU and to transfer St. Mary’s credits to another college too. The MBA program and healthcare management concentration have accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) too.
St. Mary’s University Application Requirements
The St. Mary’s Application makes it easy for students to apply online and view the decision that the university makes later. This allows them to both apply to the university and for the available scholarships. St. Mary’s requires a high school transcript and a college transcript from any student who will bring credits from another university. Undergrads also need to answer an essay question on the application and submit an official ACT or SAT score. Prospective freshmen should also supply at least one letter of recommendation from one of their high school teachers.
An online application is also required of students applying to the MBA program. They need to submit transcripts from any colleges where they earned credits towards their undergrad degrees and a resume that shows what experience they have in the healthcare management or healthcare fields. SMU asks for two letters of recommendation too. It encourages students to submit records from professors who taught them a business or healthcare subject and employers who are familiar with their work in the field. They will also need to supply a statement of purpose or a goals statement that includes any goals the student has both in the MBA program and in the future.
Tuition and Financial Aid
The cost of attending SMU is $15,585 per semester for full-time students who take up to 18 credits. This is the same rate that students in a combined program pay such as those in the nursing programs. They’ll pay other fees when they attend UT. Part-time undergrads pay $970 per credit hour. In the MBA program, students pay $980 per credit hour. SMU also charges fees of $590 per semester for both undergrads and graduate students. The housing packages offered by the university start at $2,865 per term and do not include the meal plans that students must buy, which will cost $1,930 or more each term.
Dozens of scholarships are available for undergrads who submit the official application. They need a grade point average of 3.0 or higher in high school and a minimum test score of 19 on the ACT or 980 on the SAT to qualify for the university’s merit scholarships. Alumni scholarships can meet the full cost of attending the university but require that students submit a letter of recommendation written by SMU alumni. Other forms of financial aid go to students each year, including subsidized and unsubsidized loans, loans for parents or guardians and grants from both the Texas state government and the federal government. Students who want to study one of the healthcare management programs at St. Mary’s University must submit the FAFSA to qualify for any of this financial aid.