For clinicians and managers aiming at director and executive roles: the DHSc programs whose own pages name an administration, management or leadership track, concentration or elective path.
Last updated
Programs
8
Of all verified
36%
States
5
Fewest credits
36
Best DHSc Programs for Health Administration, Compared
#
School
Credits
Ends
Format
Tuition
Score
1
Radford VA
42
Applied project
Online
$8,528
98.9
2
Indiana State IN
37
Applied project
Online
$9,978
94.3
3
Chatham PA
36
Applied project
Online
$43,518
92
4
Bay Path MA
48
Applied project
Online
$37,972
83
5
Liberty VA
60
Applied project
Online
$15,297
78.4
6
East Stroudsburg PA
Dissertation
$7,716
58
7
New Haven CT
45
Online + campus
$45,644
55.7
8
Jefferson (Population Health) PA
Dissertation
Online + campus
$46,175
51.1
Score is the program's position on the national ranking, shown so you can
see where a program sits overall as well as on this cut. A blank cell means the school does not
publish that figure.
All 8 DHSc Programs With a Health Administration or Leadership Focus
#1Score 98.9
Radford University
Doctor of Health Sciences (D.H.Sc.) · Radford, VA · Public
Radford names the track outright: a 12-credit Healthcare Administration concentration inside the 42-credit degree. Its own page lists health service directors and healthcare delivery administrators among the outcomes. Plan on bringing three to four years of health-related work experience, and on competing for a fall cohort of 12.
Doctor of Health Science in Healthcare Leadership (DHSc) · Terre Haute, IN · Public
Here the whole degree is titled Healthcare Leadership rather than carrying leadership as one track. Coursework covers health policy analysis and interprofessional teamwork, with practice-based quality improvement work along the way. Eight- and 16-week terms, five start dates a year and no required campus visits keep the entry point flexible.
37 30 core + 7 scholarly experience, plus a concentration
Ends
Applied project
Starts
5/year
Tuition
$9,978
Completion
43%
Conferred
1
#3Score 92
Chatham University
Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) · Pittsburgh, PA · Private
Administration is an elective path at Chatham, not a titled track: you tilt electives toward healthcare administration or academia, then finish a capstone on a current healthcare issue tied to your own work. It is part-time at 36 credits, with up to two courses at once, so a manager can stay in post and finish in 16 to 20 months.
36 30 with up to 6 transfer credits for licensed professionals
Ends
Applied project
Starts
1/year
Tuition
$43,518
Completion
63%
#4Score 83
Bay Path University
Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) · Longmeadow, MA · Private
Bay Path has no single administration track. It offers leadership-flavored concentrations instead, including Organizational Excellence in Healthcare, Quality and Safety Management and Health Informatics Management, on top of core coursework in healthcare leadership. Healthcare administrators are named among the professionals it admits. It runs 48 credits.
Doctor of Health Sciences (DHSc) · Lynchburg, VA · Private
Liberty presents the degree as a DHSc in Leadership and Policy, with a General track as the alternative, so picking the leadership path is a deliberate choice here. It is 60 credit hours in 8-week courses, accepts up to half the degree in transfer credit, and ends with a practicum in your area plus an applied research project.
Doctorate of Health Science (D.H.Sc.) · East Stroudsburg, PA · Public
East Stroudsburg splits its doctorate into two concentrations, Health Management and Administration and Advanced Research Administration. Courses meet in an executive weekend format over nine terms, and the degree ends in a dissertation, so it pairs a management title with research training. Published graduate tuition is $7,716 a year.
Doctor of Health Sciences (DHSc) · West Haven, CT · Private
New Haven offers Healthcare Leadership and Educational Leadership as its two concentrations, so the administrative route is a named choice. Weekly coursework is asynchronous, but two residencies bring you to campus: two days at the start and three the following May. It is 45 credits, starts each fall, and publishes $45,644 in tuition.
Doctor of Health Science in Population Health Leadership (DHSc) · Philadelphia, PA · Private
Jefferson's Population Health Leadership degree aims at system-level management, and its page lists health administrators and program specialists among the roles it prepares for. A small cohort begins each fall and finishes in the summer of year three, with a dissertation built on a critical business priority. Two in-person residencies a year come with it.
How to Choose a DHSc for a Health Administration Career
A doctorate is not required to become a health services manager. What a DHSc changes is eligibility at the senior end, where postings begin to list an advanced degree. That makes the program's focus worth checking, because a leadership concentration tells an employer more than a general health science title does.
These eight programs reach the same destination by different routes. Indiana State and Liberty put leadership in the degree itself. Radford, East Stroudsburg and New Haven offer it as a named concentration. Chatham and Bay Path let you lean toward it through electives and tracks, and Jefferson builds a whole population health leadership degree around system-level work.
The endings split too. Radford, Indiana State, Chatham, Bay Path and Liberty finish with an applied project, while East Stroudsburg and Jefferson require a dissertation. If you want the doctorate done while you hold a management post, an applied ending is the lower-friction path. If you want research training behind the title, the dissertation programs deliver it.
What Health Administration Roles Pay Without and With a Doctorate in View
Federal wage data counts occupations, not degrees, so no figure exists for DHSc holders as a group. What it does show is how wide the range is inside the occupation these programs aim at. Where you land depends mostly on the size of the organization you run, which is why a leadership degree is worth weighing against the job you actually want.
Medical and health services managers, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Measure
Annual Wage
Bottom 10%
$73,390
Median
$123,860
Top 10%
$224,340
Frequently Asked Questions About Health Administration DHSc Programs
Is there a DHSc in health administration?
Not by that name at the schools here. The DHSc is a health science doctorate, and these programs offer an administration, management or leadership focus inside it as a degree title, a concentration or an elective path. A separate degree called the Doctor of Health Administration exists at some universities, and it is a different program with its own list.
Do you need a DHSc to become a health administrator?
No. Medical and health services managers earn a median of $123,860 and a doctorate is not required to enter the occupation. A DHSc tends to matter at the senior end, for director, vice president and program chair searches that list an advanced degree.
Which of these programs end without a dissertation?
Radford, Indiana State, Chatham, Bay Path and Liberty finish with an applied project or capstone. East Stroudsburg and Jefferson Population Health Leadership require a dissertation, and Jefferson builds its on a business priority. Check the program page for the details of the final project before you apply.
How is this list ordered?
By the same score used on the national ranking, which is published in full on the methodology page. This page filters that list down to the programs with an administration, management or leadership focus rather than reordering it, and each card shows its national score.