SLU’s M.H.A. Program Ranked No. 16 by U.S. News & World Report
The Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice’s Master of Health Administration (M.H.A) program is now ranked No. 16 in the country, according the 2026 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate School Rankings.
The program moved up three spots from its previous ranking in an expanding pool of accredited health care administration programs. Prior to 2025, U.S. News & World Report announced the health care management rankings on a three-year cycle and in that time the SLU M.H.A. improved by eight spots. The publication now announces the new rankings yearly for health care management programs and schools.
We are honored to be recognized among the leading programs in graduate health administration education in the latest U.S. News rankings. We are grateful to our peers in the field for collaborating to create a learning community that supports continuous quality improvement and best practices across programs.
Kimberly R. Enard, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Health Management and Policy
The Saint Louis University M.H.A. program’s mission is to form motivated, early careerists into resilient and ethical leaders who are highly competent to engage in interdisciplinary practice across health care and related industries. We do this by providing competency-based education and integrative training in a diverse and inclusive learning environment.
A proven standout among its peers, the SLU M.H.A. lives its mission as one of the nation’s oldest and largest graduate programs in health administration, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023.
The program’s spirit of innovation began in 1947, when John J. Flanagan, S.J., then Catholic Health Association executive director, saw a need to train people to manage a quickly expanding network of hospitals in the years following World War II. CHA and SLU collaborated to build the original academic program, which was also one of the first programs in the nation to develop competency-based education. This kind of training is now the standard for accredited programs.
The Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) Board of Directors recently approved the reaccreditation of Saint Louis University’s M.H.A. program for an eight-year term, further building on the program’s long-lasting reputation of quality, innovation, and competency.
“Our continued rise in the rankings underscores the momentum of a college dedicated to health, well-being, and social justice," said Leslie McClure, Ph.D, dean of the College for Public Health and Social Justice. "This recognition reflects the collective efforts of our faculty, students, staff, alumni and community, and the expanding influence of a program that has long shaped, and continues to shape, the health administration landscape.
"The students in the program have benefited from first-hand experience with the achievement of significant success in national case competitions, which draw teams of students from top programs to compete against one another in consultant-style presentations," McClure said. "Our students continue to aim to build on their successes."
Staff and faculty in the M.H.A. program display special dedication to students, including Marcea Walter, assistant professor and director of the M.H.A. program, who was named the 2025 recipient of the Nancy McNeir Ring Award for Excellence in Teaching.
“This recognition is truly meaningful because it highlights the impact of the work I love doing,” Walter said. “It’s a moment to pause and appreciate the relationships and progress I see in students over time. Receiving this award reminds me why I do this work. At the end of the day, it always comes back to the students. It also serves as encouragement to continue finding new ways to engage, challenge, and support students in their learning and growth.”
Beyond the work being done by faculty and staff daily, our decorated alumni occupy senior management positions in a variety of health care settings. Our alumni work in health and hospital systems, insurance companies, academic medical centers, physician practices, consulting firms and benefit-management organizations.
Outside of the classroom and in the community, research continues to be a common thread for faculty and staff with SLU’s recent achievement of earning prestigious R1 Status.
College for Public Health and Social Justice
The Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice is the only academic unit of its kind, studying social, environmental and physical influences that together determine the health and well-being of people and communities. It also is the only accredited school or college of public health among nearly 250 Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States. Guided by a mission of social justice and focus on finding innovative and collaborative solutions for complex health problems, the college offers nationally recognized programs in public health and health administration.