Undergraduate Catalog 2023-2024

Health Care Administration, Bachelor of Science (559P, 559)

Department website: http://www.wku.edu/publichealth


Program Coordinator

Nadia F. Houchens, nadia.houchens@wku.edu, (270) 745-3616

The undergraduate degree program in health care administration prepares the student for administrative positions in various types of health care facilities and agencies, such as acute care, long term care, group medical practices, managed care organizations, health insurance agencies, public health agencies, clinics, and health related organizations such as manufacturing, marketing and consulting.

Program Requirements (73 hours)

A baccalaureate degree requires a minimum of 120 unduplicated semester hours. More information can be found at www.wku.edu/registrar/degree_certification.php.

Students who began WKU in the Fall 2014 and thereafter should review the Colonnade requirements located at: https://www.wku.edu/colonnade/colonnaderequirements.php.

Required Courses
HCA 120Health Literacy for Consumers3
Select one of the following:3
Contemporary Healthcare Issues
Human Values and the Health Sciences
Biomedical Ethics
Social Ethics
Ethics and Critical Thinking
Ethical Issues and Dilemmas in Social Work
HCA 340Health Care Organization and Management3
HCA 342Human Resources Management for Healthcare Managers3
HCA 343Quality Management for Healthcare3
or HCA 353 Quality and Patient Safety in Long-Term Care
HCA 344Health Systems Management3
HCA 345Long-Term Care Administration3
HCA 346Ambulatory Care Administration3
or HCA 355 Nursing Facility Administration
HCA 347International Comparisons of Health Care Systems3
or PH 410 Global Perspectives on Population Health
ACCT 220Principles of Financial Accounting3
or HIM 252 Healthcare Payment Systems
HCA 383Management Applications in Healthcare1
HCA 440Health Economics (or any 300 level or higher economics course)3
Select one of the following:3
Legal Aspects / Health Care
Legal Environment of Business
Business Law
Legal Issues in Health Information Management
HCA 442Principles and Methods of Health Planning3
HCA 445Health Care Finance3
HCA 446Health Care Informatics3
HCA 447Information Systems Laboratory1
HCA 448Health Care Analysis and Evaluation3
HCA 449Internship in Health Care Administration3
FIN 330Principles of Finance3
or HCA 401 Fundamentals of Health Care Financial Management
Select one of the following:3
Biostatistics in the Health Sciences
Introductory Statistics
Social Statistics
AH/HIM 290Medical Terminology2
Select two 3-hour HCA electives with permission of advisor6
Total Hours67

Additional Courses

In addition to meeting the Colonnade requirements, students pursuing the health care administration curriculum must take the following:

ECON 202Principles of Economics (Micro)3
or ECON 203 Principles of Economics (Macro)
Select one of the following:3-6
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Personal & Public Health
and Public and Community Health
Introduction to Epidemiology
Total Hours6-9

Some of these required courses fulfill Colonnade subject area requirements. Requirements for admission (reference number 559): 30 hours including the above courses with overall GPA of 2.5 or better.  (ECON 202 or ECON 203 and one of the following options BIOL 131; PH 100 & PH 381; or PH 384).

All courses listed above require a minimum grade of “C” (both prerequisites and core courses).

Students will not be allowed to enroll in 400-level HCA classes until they are fully admitted into the HCA program.

Requirements for degree completion: 67 hours of program courses with an overall GPA of 2.5 or better.

First Year
FallHoursSpringHours 
ENG 1003HIST 101 or HIST 1023 
Colonnade - Arts & Humanities3ENG 2003 
Colonnade - Quantitative Reasoning3COMM 1453 
Colonnade - Natural & Physical Science (Not Biology)3BIOL 131 or PH 1003-4 
HCA 1203PH 383, MATH 183, or SOCL 3003 
 15 15-16 
Second Year
FallHoursSpringHours 
ECON 202 or ECON 2033AH 290 or HIM 2902 
ENG 3003ACCT 220 or HIM 2523 
PH 381 or PH 384 (only if PH 100 is taken)3World Language or General Elective3 
Connections - Social & Cultural3General Elective3 
General Elective or Natural & Physical Science (if BIOL 131 not taken)3Connections - Systems3 
 15 14 
Third Year
FallHoursSpringHours 
HCA 3403FIN 330 or HCA 4013 
HCA Elective 3HCA 3453 
Connections - Local to Global3HCA 3443 
HCA 3831HCA 3423 
PH 447, HCA 247, PHIL 322, PHIL 323, MGT 305, or SWRK 4333HCA 4463 
 HCA 4471 
 13 16 
Fourth Year
FallHoursSpringHoursSummerHours
HCA 343 or HCA 3533HCA 4453HCA 449 - Internship in HCA3
HCA 441, MGT 200, MGT 301, or HIM 2253HCA 347 or PH 4103 
HCA 3463HCA 4423 
HCA 440 (or upper-level ECON course)3HCA 4483 
HCA Elective3General Elective 2 
 15 14 3
Total Hours 120-121