Benefits of MS HCM at Cal State LA
Access to Business Faculty
MS HCM program at Cal State LA is one of the few in the nation housed in a highly accredited College of Business & Economics. Along with other business students, HCM students can take specific business courses they need for personal or professional advancement that are taught by experienced business faculty.
Focus on Management
Any program has a limited scope of knowledge and skills it may effectively cover, and most graduate programs face the dilemmas of specialization or distinct value. Positioned in a business college’s Department of Management, we naturally chose to focus on what needs to be done to advance the craft of managing today’s healthcare organizations and people (and not as much on health policy or general public health issues, for example). We teach Healthcare Law and Ethics, for instance, with an eye on personal values and compassion and from a perspective of daily implications for managers and corporate compliance (and not as much from a larger social-implication perspective). We draw our Healthcare Strategy teaching from an expertise in health service-oriented marketing and understanding of continuous organizational change and innovation (and not as much from a policy-and-politics-driven change). We explore Healthcare Leadership from the positive and pragmatic angles of helping employees thrive and harnessing workplace diversity to advance organizational and community goals. We focus on equipping our students for making tangible, operational improvements in any healthcare setting. Our key objective is to help the leaders we prepare succeed in today’s healthcare organizational environments.
Affordability
Cal State LA, a campus of the largest U.S. state-funded university system, offers a high-quality education at an affordable cost for a comparable degree. Tuition and fees are published in the university schedule of classes, /classschedule/
Flexibility
You may take classes up to four times a year or take some of them online or in a hybrid form. In addition to the regular Fall and Spring semesters, you may accelerate completion by taking certain classes during Summer or Winter intersessions. Because most of our students are employed full time during their studies or have other responsibilities, all core classes may be conveniently taken at night. Students attempt their courses at a pace appropriate for them, but most complete their coursework in no more than two years.
Experienced Students and Friendly Environment
The quality of classroom discussions is enhanced by the fact that most students in the program have several years of real-world work experience in healthcare settings. The program draws health professionals, health service managers, and others from a variety of facilities in the Los Angeles area, from across the nation, and from other countries. All of them come here to learn, and they do so together. Many find new friends and colleagues and build their professional networks.
Established Record of Success
No newcomer to the field, the MS HCM program at Cal State LA has been producing trained graduates since 1975. Many of these graduates have advanced to leadership positions in the healthcare industry in Southern California and throughout the country. Some of them proudly lead healthcare advancement in their native lands outside the United States.
Convenient Location
Located only about five miles east of downtown Los Angeles, and adjacent to the western San Gabriel Valley, Cal State LA is at the very center of one of the world's most dynamic business and cultural hubs. The campus is adjacent to two major freeways and can be reached easily by both automobile and public transportation. Cal State LA is also the only campus in the system with its own Metrolink station. Our local students and faculty commute from as far south as San Diego or as far north as Ventura County. There are also housing opportunities on and off campus.