Alabama pays healthcare managers less than almost any state in the country, and
it has the largest gap between its public and private programs anywhere in this
ranking. Those two facts together decide how to read the
8 healthcare administration programs in Alabama below: the
cheap places are also the ones that finish people, and the expensive places have
the least to show for it.
The Wage Floor Comes First in Alabama
Most of these state pages can leave pay until after the ranking. Alabama cannot,
because the number changes what counts as a sensible price. The state median for
medical and health services managers is $97,790,
$26,070 under the national figure, and unusually the gap does not
close further up: the top tenth of earners here clear $159,450 where the
national top tenth clear $224,340.
Wage figures for medical and health services managers in this state
| Median | $97,790 |
| Below national median | $26,070 |
| Pay rank | 50th of 51 |
| Employed | 10,360 |
| Workforce rank | 19th of 51 |
| 25th percentile | $79,500 |
| 75th percentile | $118,440 |
| 90th percentile | $159,450 |
| National median | $123,860 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 11-9111.
Against that, four years at the state's average private tuition of
$20,178 comes to about $80,712. Four
years at the public average of $10,032 comes to about
$40,128. In a state paying above the national line, a
reader can argue either route. Here the arithmetic is harder to make work at
the top of the range.
1 Health Services Administration (HADM)
Auburn
On campus
Auburn, AL
$11,016 in-state tuition82% graduation rate46% admit rate72.1 score
Auburn admits students to the health services administration major by application only, after they have completed 30 semester hours and written a statement of purpose of no more than 500 words.
The degree runs 120 hours and sits in the Department of Political Science within the College of Liberal Arts. Admission to the major is a separate step from admission to Auburn: applicants need 30 completed semester hours and a minimum 2.3 GPA in a specified list of courses along with the statement. The first two years cover college core requirements, including two semesters of a foreign language, plus ACCT 2110 Principles of Financial Accounting, microeconomics, and STAT 2510 Statistics for Biology and Health Sciences.
HADM coursework starts with Medical Terminology in the freshman spring and Gateway to Health Care Administration in the sophomore spring, then moves through Health Care Policy, Health Law, Health Care Insurance and Reimbursement, Health Care Analytics, Health Care Management and Leadership, and Health Information Technology. A six-hour internship, HADM 4920, falls in the summer after the junior year and requires all prerequisites first. Business courses in finance, management, marketing, human resource management, and managerial accounting are required alongside. Seniors take two adviser-approved health administration seminars and HADM 4950 Capstone Seminar.
- 120 credit hours across four years
- Application-only major: 30 hours, 2.3 GPA minimum
- Six-hour summer internship, HADM 4920
- Housed in the Department of Political Science
View Auburn's Health Services Administration (HADM)
2 Healthcare Administration Major (BS)
Samford
Fully online
Birmingham, AL
$39,000 in-state tuition77% graduation rate82% admit rate64.3 score
Samford’s healthcare administration BS requires two internship placements totaling at least 240 hours and a senior-spring capstone.
The 2025-26 catalog specifies 128 credits, including a 65-credit major that brings accounting, public health and health informatics into management study. Courses address reimbursement, budgeting, patient safety, digital health, marketing and health policy. The undergraduate program is AUPHA certified.
Admission requires a 2.75 cumulative GPA. Internship placements are coordinated with the program director, with six internship credits required across separate terms. Students admitted to the separate BS/MHCA fast-track pathway may count up to 18 graduate credits toward the bachelor’s degree and pursue both awards in five years.
- Two internships, at least 240 hours
- AUPHA-certified undergraduate program
- Conditional BS/MHCA pathway
View Samford's Healthcare Administration Major (BS)
3 Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management
University of Alabama at Birmingham
On campus CAHME master's on campus
Birmingham, AL
$9,048 in-state tuition64% graduation rate88% admit rate59.4 score
UAB attaches an accelerated master's to the degree, so a student can begin graduate work before finishing the bachelor's.
The B.S. in Health Care Management sits in UAB's School of Health Professions, and the university frames it plainly: a successful practice needs high quality management as well as good clinicians, and this degree is the pathway into it. The stated destinations are mid-level management careers or continuation into graduate study.
Several school and department scholarships are available specifically to prospective Health Care Management students, which is worth checking before applying rather than after.
- Accelerated master's option from the bachelor's
- School of Health Professions
- Aimed at mid-level management roles
- School and department scholarships available
View University of Alabama at Birmingham's Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management
4 B.S. Health Care Administration
Columbia Southern
Fully online
Orange Beach, AL
$5,944 in-state tuition33% graduation rate56.3 score
Columbia Southern’s 120-credit online BS offers 11 start dates each year and accepts up to 90 transfer credits after evaluation.
The program serves both newcomers to healthcare and people already working in the field. Its administrative focus includes communication, organizational procedures and professional standards. Students examine how leadership styles affect healthcare organizations and how managers guide strategic goals.
Course access is available around the clock. Learning outcomes include applying business principles to healthcare and evaluating the ethics of professional standards. The 90-credit transfer figure is a maximum; the credits accepted for an individual student determine how much of the degree remains.
- 120-credit online BS
- Up to 90 transfer credits
- 11 annual start dates
View Columbia Southern's B.S. Health Care Administration
5 Bachelor of Business Administration, Health Care Administration
Oakwood
On campus
Huntsville, AL
$21,344 in-state tuition45% graduation rate45% admit rate53.6 score
Oakwood’s BBA concentration includes a six-credit practicum and a management project examining the student’s assigned healthcare organization.
The 120-hour degree combines a 42-hour business core with a 30-hour healthcare administration concentration. Specialized study covers medical terminology, healthcare law and ethics, technology, long-term care, insurance and risk management. A research course examines problems in health services management.
The practicum provides a setting for applying the business and healthcare coursework. Students evaluate an organization’s management functions and recommend improvements to care delivery. Program outcomes also connect biblical principles with ethical decisions in healthcare and require students to analyze how the U.S. delivery system operates and is financed.
- 30-hour healthcare concentration
- Six-credit practicum
- Management improvement project
View Oakwood's Bachelor of Business Administration, Health Care Administration
6 Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management
University of Mobile
On campus
Mobile, AL
$25,320 in-state tuition57% graduation rate78% admit rate52 score
Mobile’s healthcare management BS combines business and nursing faculty instruction, with an optional integrated five-year BS/MBA route.
The major pairs a business foundation in accounting, finance, analytics and strategy with healthcare-focused study. The published course list includes medical terminology, healthcare technology, leadership, and legal and ethical issues. Students also study organizational communication, human resources and project management.
An internship course appears in the undergraduate major sequence alongside a business senior seminar. Students choosing the integrated pathway pursue both the BS in Healthcare Management and an MBA. The university’s Christian general education includes study of the Bible or Christian worldview and the history of Christian thought or the life of Jesus.
- Business and nursing faculty
- Internship in the major sequence
- Integrated BS/MBA option
View University of Mobile's Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management
7 Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management
South University-Montgomery
Fully online
Montgomery, AL
$17,100 in-state tuition9% graduation rate42.6 score
South University's Healthcare Management B.S. ends with capstones in case analysis and strategic management, within a 180-quarter-credit curriculum.
The degree allocates 48 quarter credits to general education, 36 to foundation courses and 96 to major requirements. Health care finance examines reimbursement and financial statements; other core courses address law, ethics, marketing, risk and managerial epidemiology.
Students choose ten electives from a pool that includes federal and state health programs, project management and organizational behavior. South says specialized courses are delivered online, while some general education courses may be available at a campus. Its program page and catalog list the participating locations.
- 180 quarter credits
- Case-study and strategy capstones
- Online specialized coursework
- Health care finance and risk management
View South University-Montgomery's Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management
8 Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration
Herzing University-Birmingham
On campus
Birmingham, AL
$12,360 in-state tuition13% graduation rate93% admit rate37 score
Herzing's 120-credit Healthcare Administration B.S. offers online classes and a choice between an applied capstone and an internship where permitted.
Coursework includes health policy, conflict resolution, epidemiology, finance, medical law and health care human resources. The capstone uses a team project with interim reports and a final presentation; the internship provides supervised workplace experience. Herzing limits the internship option in some states.
Students may transfer up to 90 approved credits. A prior allied health degree is not required for entry. Eligible undergraduates can also apply approved graduate coursework toward both their bachelor's and a qualifying graduate program.
- 120-credit B.S.
- Online classes
- Capstone or eligible internship
- Up to 90 approved transfer credits
View Herzing University-Birmingham's Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration
How We Scored Alabama's Healthcare Administration Programs
Graduation rate carries 40% of the score, in-state tuition 25%, delivery
flexibility 20% and admission selectivity 15%. Every input is federal IPEDS data
or the school's own program page, and a program has to report both a graduation
rate and a tuition figure, and still be enrolling new students, to be ranked at
all. Weights are never renormalized
around a missing factor, because that turns non-disclosure into an advantage. The
same model runs on every state page, with no editorial override and no paid
placement. The full weighting, and the factors left out deliberately, are in the
ranking methodology (version 1.0).
No accreditation factor appears at this level. CAHME accredits healthcare
management programs at master's level only, so no bachelor's degree anywhere
carries it, and an undergraduate program claiming otherwise is describing
something that does not exist. Where a school states AUPHA certification on its
own page, that is reported on the program rather than scored.