Top 10 Business Graduate Schools for Physicians

The University of Houston at Clear Lake’s Master of Health Services Administration program was ranked number one for physician executives, according to Modern Healthcare's annual ranking of the "Top Business Graduate Schools for Physician-Executives." The 2011 rankings were based on programs awarding master's degrees with courses that focus on physicians and the clinical aspects of healthcare.

The University of Houston’s relatively low tuition and flexible program propelled the school to the top of the list.

“In the past 10 years several of our graduate students have been placed in residencies in nationally recognized medical centers such as Memorial-Hermann Healthcare System, St. Luke’s Healthcare System, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Shriner's Childrens Hospital, Michael A. DeBakey VA Medical Center and several other facilities throughout the nation,” according to the school’s website. “Several of our alumni hold positions in senior management at prestigious internationally and nationally recognized healthcare institutions.”

The Texas university nabbed the title from Xavier University's Master of Health Services Administration program, which came in first for two of the last three years. Cincinnati-based Xavier fell to 11th place, tied with San Diego State University’s Master of Public Health program and the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Baruch College at the City University of New York. San Diego State boasted the ranking’s lowest tuition, at $6,578 in-state. (The U.S. Army’s program at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, which ranked 31st in the survey, charges no tuition).

Modern Healthcare's rankings were based on a list of programs awarding MBA or similar degrees in courses that focus on physicians and/or working executives. Programs were ranked on five factors: the length of time to complete (the shorter the program, the higher the rank); the cost of total tuition (the lower the tuition, the higher the rank); the number of days students must spend on campus (the fewer the days, the higher the rank); age of each program in years (the older the program, the higher the rank); and number of total graduates (the greater the number, the higher the rank). The five rankings were then totaled, with the lowest score getting the highest final rank.

To see the top 10 business graduate schools for physician executives, visit Modern Healthcare.