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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Patricia R. Loubeau, Dr PH, Department of Health Care Programs, Department of Health Care Programs, Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801, (914)633-2469, ploubeau@iona.edu and Robert Jantzen, PhD, Department of Economics, Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801.
Health Services Administration programs can obtain specialized accreditation from the Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration (ACEHSA). Currently, 57 out of 175 U.S. programs are accredited by ACEHSA. This study presents a profile of Master's programs and a comparison of the programs that are accredited with those that are not. The study was based on data collected from the Health Services Administration Education Directory of Programs 1999-2001, Peterson's Graduate Programs in Business, Education Health, Information Studies, Law, Social Work, 2000 and school catalogues. The likelihood of accreditation was contrasted by the following components:(1) geographic location,(2) number of credits,(3) presence of a doctoral program, (4) practicum requirement, (5)type of degree offered, (6) admission test requirement, and (7) location of the school within the college or university. As expected, a comparison demonstrates that programs accredited by ACEHSA are generally of higher average quality than those that are not. Specifically, accredited programs require more credits to graduate (55 versus 46), and are more likely to require practicum experience (67% versus 49%). Accredited master's programs are also more likely to be in schools offering doctoral degrees (37% versus 12%) and to require either GMAT or GRE scores for admission ( 93% versus 76%). Regional differences in the proportion accredited also exist, with relatively few (19%) schools in the Northeast having accreditation, compared with larger fractions in the West(30%), North central (42%) and South (43%). All these differences are statistically significant. The kind of school (business, public health, etc.) where the program was located did not significantly influence the proportion accredited. These findings have implications for schools seeking accreditation.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Accreditation, Education
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.