Most Affordable Online Bachelor's in Healthcare Administration

Profiles of the Most Affordable Online Healthcare Administration Degrees

Whether you want to earn a healthcare administration certificate or a graduate degree, tuition is the largest part of a program’s cost. But, it’s not the only thing that determines the price of attendance. Some important considerations impact the bottom-line cost of a healthcare administration degree. For example, the amount you receive in scholarships and grants will impact your degree’s affordability, so it’s important to apply for all of the awards that you qualify for. When you earn more scholarships and grants, you’ll need to take out less student loans. This will spare you from interest payments, which can exponentially increase the amount you ultimately pay for your degree.

How courses are delivered is a big driver of affordability. This can affect the cost of attendance in several ways. If you need to take more in-person classes, you’ll have to spend more time and money traveling to class. More in-person classes usually make it harder to work while in school – and to use that income to help pay for your education. Online classes provide flexibility that makes it easier to accelerate or slow down the pace of earning a degree so you can work while taking classes.

Whether or not a school is public or private is also something to consider. Generally, private schools are more expensive than public schools. But, there’s a potential exception – if you attend a public school as a non-resident student, you might pay a higher tuition rate. Depending on the college, this higher tuition could be approximately the same as tuition at a private school.

Comparing the Cost of Online and On-Campus Healthcare Administration Degree Programs

Enrolling in an online healthcare administration degree program can go a long way toward saving money on your education. In addition to saving money on a commute back and forth to campus, online programs often charge by the credit. This can make tuition costs significantly lower than what you pay for traditional programs; in-person programs often charge a flat fee for each semester or year.

However, virtual learning might come with some charges that on-campus programs do not. For example, you might need to get specific types of software to participate in online courses. Also, online degree programs can have technology fees that you don’t have to worry about when you enroll in a traditional degree program.

Cost-Cutting for Prospective Healthcare Administration Students

Most prospective healthcare administration students can’t afford to pay the full cost of their education out of pocket. And those who can afford it still benefit from finding ways to lower the cost of their degree. Below are some strategies that can save you money as you earn your degree.

Apply for Scholarships, Fee Waivers, and More

The most popular way to reduce the cost of your degree is to use financial aid. Ideally, you can apply for grants and scholarships for healthcare administration students, which you don’t have to pay back. But, most of these awards are highly competitive. To increase your chances of success, look for grants and scholarships that are open to only healthcare administration students. Remember that if you receive more money in financial aid, you’ll need to take out less money in loans. This can save you a significant amount of money in interest.

Maintain Part-Time Employment

The availability of this funding depends on the school, as these options are not available in all healthcare administration programs. If they are available, schools provide part-time jobs to students to earn money to help pay for their degree. These jobs are usually in areas related to a specific field of study and/or with professors in a specific department. Keep in mind that you’ll need to have the time available to complete these jobs and be able to travel to and from campus. Otherwise, you can maintain outside employment to help manage costs.

Take Advantage of Employer Tuition Reimbursement

Some organizations offer these workplace benefits to help employees go back to school. Terms vary, but usually the employer pays an employee’s tuition up to a certain amount each year. In return, the employee agrees to continue working for the company for a certain amount of time after graduating.

This is a good deal for both employees and employers. If you’re able to get tuition reimbursement, you can save a great deal on your education. Offering this type of perk can make an organization more attractive to future employees, so recruiting the best talent becomes easier.

Explore Loan Forgiveness Programs

Student loans can take a long time to pay off – even when you’ve taken steps to keep the amount you borrow to a minimum. However, you can get some relief from student loan forgiveness programs. For example, if you choose to become an educator, student loan forgiveness programs for teachers are available. Similarly, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) is designed for students who work in a qualified position at a not-for-profit or government agency; they must make 120 monthly payments on their loan.

Ranking the Most Affordable Online Healthcare Administration Degree Programs

Not every online healthcare administration degree program will serve you best. We believe that it’s important to learn about as many options as possible as you do your research. So, we created the rankings below. As you review these schools, consider how they compare to what you’re looking for. Also, be sure to review our methodology pop-up to find out how we curated this list. We include information on the factors we took into consideration as we created these rankings. This will give you an idea of the most important factors for healthcare administration students.