Appendix E: Recommended electives for the MHA degree

The courses listed below are approved electives for the MHA degree. Many students also choose to take courses that are not listed here, as new courses are offered with the university or discovered by students. This list is a starting point for MHA students and not an exhaustive list of elective options.

Students are encouraged to consult with their advisors and other course instructors, search the Ohio State course catalog and other Ohio State sources, and speak to other students to learn about elective possibilities that may meet their individual interests and educational goals.

In addition to courses offered in HSMP and other divisions within the College of Public Health, many MHA-appropriate electives are offered elsewhere in the university. MHA students often take electives in the College of Public Health, the Fisher College of Business and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. As the list below shows, elective courses can be found in a broad range of departments and colleges. 

If you would like to take an elective course not included in this list, you must complete an "elective approval petition" (CPH Graduate Student Handbook, Appendix J) and submit it to the MHA program director. Please note the following points before submitting a request:

1. Any graduate course in the university is a potential elective, subject to two conditions: (a) your ability to meet the course prerequisites and (b) its relevance or contribution to your program.
2. Some courses that appear to have relevant titles are in fact not appropriate, which is why they are not listed (e.g., certain health care management oriented courses in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences are versions of material already in our required curriculum and are therefore not permitted).
3. Courses numbered below 6000 may have mixed graduate and undergraduate enrollment. Several of the courses listed below are 4000-level courses that have mixed enrollment. They can only count toward the MHA degree program if a regular faculty member, not teaching assistant, is teaching the course. The Graduate School does not permit 4000-level courses from a student’s program (in this case, anything offered by the College of Public Health) to apply toward that student’s degree program.
4. You are responsible for checking whether there are any prerequisites for a course, and obtaining any necessary permission to enroll. It sometimes happens that the registration system will not permit you to enroll in a course for which you have, in fact, met the prerequisite. This is usually because the prerequisite was taken somewhere other than Ohio State and you will need to provide evidence to the department offering the course to obtain permission to enroll.

Current approved electives

To verify the actual offerings each term by checking the online schedule of classes. Courses listed here may not offered every term, or even every year. We will update this list as new elective courses are approved.

Fisher College of Business

College of Public Health

Courses listed below are only those that are particularly recommended.  MHA students may choose any others for which they meet the prerequisites with advisor approval.

John Glenn College of Public Affairs

Other colleges and departments