With plenty of openings, this segment attracts many young aspirants. The average salary of a health care manager is over $ 65,000 per year. Some possible career choices for graduates include hospital administrator, nursing home administrator, health department administrator, budget analyst etc.
The minimum qualification to enter the field is a master's degree or at least a bachelor's degree. You can earn a degree from an online college and enjoy the benefit of flexibility and convenience of online classes. Before opting for online education, think whether it is the right learning style for you. There are two guides throwing light on this subject. They are: The Distance Learners' Guide published by the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications and the Federal Trade Commission's Guide for Private Vocational and Distance Education Schools.
You must be choosy and careful in selecting a college as some of them (sarcastically named as diploma mills) are interested only in making money and provide almost worthless diplomas. Now the question is how to avoid these diploma mills. You can check with these publications -- the US Department of Education: Diploma Mills & Accreditation, and Oregon Student Assistance Commission's Overview of Diploma Mills, and a list of unaccredited colleges.
You can also find out if any complaints have been filed against a school by contacting State Licensing Agencies: Directory of Higher Education Officials, Accrediting Agencies, the US Department of Education's list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The BBB web site has the list of local officials who can give the information on customer complaints in local areas.
You must be sure that the college/school under your consideration is accredited to a reputed organization. Find out whether the school is accredited by a nationally recognized agency, which in turn is recognized by the US Department of Education. It is a good idea to take a look at the list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies. You must also be sure that the school is legally operating and to cross check this fact you must contact the state licensing agency using the Directory of Higher Education Officials.
Some schools offer job placement assistance. If the school you chose has any such scheme ask for job placement rates (the percentage of graduates placed in jobs) and compare these rates with those of other schools. Get the information of recent graduates and find out their experience with the school. It is beneficial to know whether the training they received had prepared them for the job they wanted.
