Enrollment in a combined pathway allows highly qualified, current undergraduate students to work on the Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Leadership while completing the bachelor’s degree. Up to 12 credits of designated master’s courses are incorporated into the bachelor’s degree program and will count toward both the bachelor’s degree and the master’s degree.

Empire State University currently offers combined pathways to the MBA in Healthcare Leadership to its own undergraduates as well as qualified undergraduates of SUNY Canton.

The Pathways

Undergraduate students of Empire State University may seek the following combined degree pathway:

• B.S. in Allied Health to MBA in Healthcare Leadership

Undergraduate students of SUNY Canton may seek the following combined degree pathway:

• B.S. in Healthcare Management (through SUNY Canton) to M.B.A. in Healthcare Leadership

Admission

Admission to a combined program is highly selective. Matriculated undergraduate students may apply to the combined program after completing at least one semester at Empire State University. The admission application process¹ includes a review and recalculation of the most recent 60 credits earned (minimum GPA of 3.2), one recommendation, and the admission essay. The preferred professional background includes 3-5 years in a managerial or clinical capacity in a health care environment or relevant experience in a related organizational setting.

In addition to completing the graduate application, candidates must have completed the following academic prerequisites or their equivalent to be considered for admission:

• Statistics (3 credits);
• Macroeconomics (3 credits)²;
• Microeconomics (3 credits); and
• Accounting (3 credits)

Please see the Graduate Admission section of this catalog for a complete listing of materials required to complete a graduate application. 

¹

SUNY Canton applicants are not required to submit the application essay nor the recommendation letters and may request a waiver code of the application fee at grad@sunyempire.edu.

²

Empire State University undergraduates must include this additional undergraduate level course or equivalent in their degree plan.

Curriculum

The combined program leading to a MBA in Healthcare Leadership, require 152 credits total, of which 42 are master’s credits leading to the MBA in Healthcare Leadership. Students must meet all college and academic program guidelines.

The combined program requires careful planning. It is recommended that this should begin in the first term of a student’s undergraduate career. The student and the primary mentor will consult in the planning of the undergraduate degree program so that both the undergraduate degree requirements and the 12 graduate-level credits from the MBA in Healthcare Leadership are included in the degree plan. Students must meet graduate expectations for academic progress and grade point average in their master’s level courses to remain in the combined pathway program.

Combined Pathway Courses

The four graduate courses that must be taken during undergraduate study are below. Students accepted to the combined pathway will include these courses in their undergraduate degree plan.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
HCLM 6005	Mastering Leadership in Healthcare Organizations	3
HCLM 6010	Analysis of Healthcare Markets & Health Policy	3
HCLM 6015	Health Information Management and Informatics	3
HCLM Elective		3

Remaining required graduate courses can be found on the MBA in Healthcare Leadership pages of this catalog.