Rising Popularity of Online Degrees in Healthcare

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Online health­care degrees are increas­ing­ly pop­u­lar due to their flex­i­bil­i­ty, afford­abil­i­ty, and acces­si­bil­i­ty for work­ing adults.
• Pro­grams like nurs­ing, health­care admin­is­tra­tion, pub­lic health, and health infor­ma­tion man­age­ment pre­pare grad­u­ates for in-demand, high-pay­ing roles.
• Hands-on expe­ri­ences like clin­i­cal rota­tions and practicums are inte­grat­ed into many online health­care degree programs.
• Accred­it­ed pro­grams with finan­cial aid options and robust stu­dent sup­port ser­vices are key to max­i­miz­ing career growth opportunities.

Why are online health­care degree pro­grams pop­u­lar? We will dis­cuss the most pop­u­lar online health­care degrees, such as nurs­ing. Read on if you’re inter­est­ed in enjoy­ing the ben­e­fits of a suc­cess­ful health­care career.

Did you know that health­care jobs are among the most in-demand occu­pa­tions today? Total employ­ment, accord­ing to offi­cial Labor Sta­tis­tics data, is “pro­ject­ed to grow much faster than aver­age” with­in the years 2023 and 2033. Every year, about 1.9 mil­lion open­ings are avail­able, on average.

Many health­care jobs are also among the high­est-paid in the coun­try. Health­care prac­ti­tion­ers, such as reg­is­tered nurs­es, earned $80,820 in medi­an annu­al wages. Med­ical and health ser­vices man­agers earned $110,680 in medi­an annu­al wages.

Indeed, now is the best time to pur­sue health­care-relat­ed degrees and get your foot in the door. We under­stand that there are chal­lenges, espe­cial­ly for work­ing pro­fes­sion­als. We then sug­gest look­ing into online health­care degree programs.

The COVID-19 pan­dem­ic high­light­ed the ris­ing pop­u­lar­i­ty of online degree pro­grams. This was dri­ven by the afford­abil­i­ty, flex­i­bil­i­ty, and con­ve­nience of online learn­ing. Plus, online pro­grams were mod­eled after on-cam­pus pro­grams, mean­ing qual­i­ty was a given.

Relat­ed:

• Accel­er­at­ed Health­care Admin­is­tra­tion Pro­grams for Future Leaders
• Fast-Track Nurs­ing Degrees for Work­ing Health­care Professionals
• Best Schools for Health­care Administration
• Fastest Online Health­care Admin­is­tra­tion Bachelor’s Degree Programs

Why Online Healthcare Degrees Are Becoming More Popular

Here are the com­mon rea­sons why online health­care degree pro­grams are more popular.

Flexibility for Working Adults

Online pro­grams pro­vide max­i­mum flex­i­bil­i­ty in the fol­low­ing ways:

• Asyn­chro­nous class­es that allow stu­dents to access their learn­ing mate­ri­als 24/7
• Syn­chro­nous class­es that enable stu­dents to attend vir­tu­al class­rooms from anywhere
• Self-paced learn­ing options

For work­ing pro­fes­sion­als, these fea­tures enable them to main­tain a good work-life balance.

Advances in Technology and Accessibility

With online pro­grams using e‑learning tech­nolo­gies, online stu­dents find them more acces­si­ble. Indeed, e‑learning tech­nolo­gies repli­cate the tra­di­tion­al class­room expe­ri­ence. Online stu­dents can engage in lec­tures, dis­cus­sions, and sim­u­la­tions from any­where. Even lab­o­ra­to­ry ses­sions are pos­si­ble via vir­tu­al laboratories.

Affordability and Reduced Expenses

Online pro­grams tend to have more afford­able tuition and fees than on-cam­pus pro­grams. Their stu­dents also don’t have to spend on park­ing fees and trav­el expens­es. For out-of-state stu­dents, there’s no need for relo­ca­tion either.

The health­care indus­try was most affect­ed by the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. But it was also the health­care indus­try that ben­e­fit­ed from the rise of online programs.

Key Advantages of Online Healthcare Degrees

The ben­e­fits of online health­care degrees are also instru­men­tal in the increas­ing pop­u­lar­i­ty of online programs.

Access to Specialized Programs Nationwide

If you live in an area where spe­cial­ized pro­grams aren’t avail­able, don’t fret. You can access them through online pro­grams offered nation­wide. There’s no need to move or trav­el long dis­tances. All you need is an Inter­net-con­nect­ed com­put­er, and you’re good to go.

Self-paced Learning Options

Many online pro­grams offer an accel­er­at­ed for­mat for faster degree com­ple­tion. If you’re a high­ly moti­vat­ed indi­vid­ual on the fast track to career growth, check them out.

Then, there are online pro­grams with self-paced options, too. You can study the course mate­ri­als in your own time although there are week­ly dead­lines. Self-paced options also mean more con­trol over your pace of study.

Hands-on Experience Opportunities

Online health­care degree pro­grams also have hands-on expe­ri­ence require­ments for their stu­dents. In-per­son clin­i­cal rota­tions, practicums, and field­work are, thus, com­mon. These are made pos­si­ble through ongo­ing part­ner­ships with health­care facilities.

Career Advancement Opportunities

These pro­grams enable health­care work­ers to gain advanced knowl­edge and skills. By upskilling, you’re more qual­i­fied for high­er posi­tions. All these with­out leav­ing your job, too.

The key to enjoy­ing these ben­e­fits is to find accred­it­ed online health­care pro­grams. Accred­i­ta­tion means the online pro­gram meets stan­dards of aca­d­e­m­ic qual­i­ty and indus­try recog­ni­tion. This is cru­cial in health­care degrees, lead­ing to cer­ti­fi­ca­tion and licensure.

Top 5 Most Popular Online Degrees in Healthcare

Here are the five most pop­u­lar health­care degrees that you must consider:

Healthcare Administration

Stu­dents pur­su­ing online health­care admin­is­tra­tion degrees learn a wide range of health­care-relat­ed top­ics. You’ll tack­le man­age­ment prin­ci­ples and prac­tices as applied in the health­care sec­tor, including:

• Strate­gic planning
• Finance man­age­ment
• Human resources management
• Ethics and compliance
• Health­care pol­i­cy, laws and regulations

You can become a med­ical and health ser­vices man­ag­er with the degree. Oth­er job titles include health­care admin­is­tra­tor and clin­i­cal manager.

Med­ical and health ser­vices man­agers can earn more than $216,750 per year (BLS, May 2023), among the high­est. Their pro­ject­ed job growth rate is among the high­est at 29% (2023–2033), too.

Nursing (RN to BSN Programs)

Of course, you can become a nurse with an asso­ciate degree. But if you want to take advan­tage of career advance­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties, get a BSN degree. There’s a high demand for BSN-edu­cat­ed nurs­es because of their high­er edu­ca­tion lev­els, too. 

Reg­is­tered nurs­es with a BSN degree can earn more than $132,680 per year (BLS, May 2023). Total pro­ject­ed employ­ment growth is at 6% (2023–2033) or about 194,500 open­ings per year. Every health­care facil­i­ty needs nurs­es, too, aside from gov­ern­ment agen­cies and colleges.

RN-to-BSN pro­grams offer flex­i­bil­i­ty and acces­si­bil­i­ty, too, as well as finan­cial aid. In-per­son clin­i­cal require­ments can be com­plet­ed at your cur­rent workplace.

Public Health

If you’re look­ing for afford­able online health­care degrees, con­sid­er pub­lic health. Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na and Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty are good schools.

Pub­lic health degrees also offer the best val­ue. You can pur­sue a wide range of well-pay­ing pub­lic health jobs, including:

• Pub­lic health admin­is­tra­tors ($96,205/year average)
• Epi­demi­ol­o­gists ($81,390/year average)
• Com­mu­ni­ty health edu­ca­tors ($62,860/year average)

Pub­lic health pro­fes­sion­als play cru­cial roles in com­mu­ni­ty well­ness, too. You can pro­mote healthy lifestyles and imple­ment pro­grams for dis­ease pre­ven­tion. With the chal­lenges of chron­ic dis­eases, among oth­ers, pub­lic health pro­fes­sion­als are more impor­tant than ever.

Health Information Management

This is among the fastest-grow­ing online health­care careers that ambi­tious indi­vid­u­als must con­sid­er. Health Infor­ma­tion Man­age­ment (HIM) focus­es on:

• Col­lect­ing, pro­tect­ing, and man­ag­ing med­ical records, includ­ing patient health data
• Ensur­ing that the health infor­ma­tion meets cur­rent stan­dards of acces­si­bil­i­ty, accu­ra­cy, and security
• Meet­ing the stan­dards set by law, such as HIPAA

HIM pro­fes­sion­als work with elec­tron­ic health records, data ana­lyt­ic tools, and cod­ing soft­ware to meet these goals. The ris­ing demand for HIM pro­fes­sion­als is due to the wide­spread use of dig­i­tal records.

Com­mon job titles include HIM tech­ni­cians, tech­nol­o­gists and med­ical reg­is­trars. Their medi­an annu­al wage was $62,990 (BLS, May 2023). The top earn­ers can take in more than $107,650 per year.

Nutrition and Dietetics

Stu­dents in online nutri­tion and dietet­ics pro­grams learn:

• Nutri­tion­al science
• Pub­lic health
• Human phys­i­ol­o­gy
• Health and well­ness strategies

Grad­u­ates of these pro­grams can pur­sue roles like:

• Dieti­tians and nutritionists
• Health coach­es
• Nutri­tion consultants

The total pro­ject­ed job growth for dieti­tians and nutri­tion­ists is 7% (2023–2033). Their high demand is due to the increas­ing aware­ness of nutri­tion’s role in pre­ven­tive healthcare.

These are only among the top online degrees in health­care with high demand and salaries. Con­sid­er med­ical lab­o­ra­to­ry sci­ence and radi­o­log­ic sci­ences, too. 

How to Choose the Right Online Healthcare Degree Program

Choos­ing from among these health­care degrees you can earn online can be chal­leng­ing. Here are the cru­cial fac­tors that you must consider.

Accreditation and Reputation

Region­al and pro­gram­mat­ic accred­i­ta­tions are the first aspect to look for. Region­al accred­i­ta­tion is for the col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty itself. Pro­gram­mat­ic accred­i­ta­tion is for the pro­gram itself, such as:

• CAHME (health­care administration)
• CCNE (nurs­ing)
• CEPH (pub­lic health)
• CAHIIM (health infor­ma­tion management)
• ACEND (nutri­tion and dietetics)

Read stu­dent reviews and tes­ti­mo­ni­als and rank­ing web­sites to assess the pro­grams’ rep­u­ta­tion, too.

Cost and Financial Aid Options

The cost of a bach­e­lor’s degree is $38,270 per stu­dent per year, near­ly half the real medi­an house­hold income. Since health­care degrees are in the STEM field, the cost tends to be higher.

You must then con­sid­er the cost of the health­care degree pro­grams you’re inter­est­ed in. Explore your finan­cial aid options, including:

• Fed­er­al and state aid
• Schol­ar­ships and grants
• Employ­er reimbursement
• Mil­i­tary and vet­er­an benefits

Program Support and Resources

Stu­dent suc­cess also depends on the qual­i­ty and avail­abil­i­ty of stu­dent sup­port ser­vices, including:

• Aca­d­e­m­ic advis­ing and planning
• Tutor­ing services
• Writ­ing and math center
• Career devel­op­ment services
• Online libraries and databases
• Intern­ships and extern­ship resources 
• Net­work­ing and pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment opportunities

Indeed, your suc­cess in flex­i­ble online health­care edu­ca­tion demands a holis­tic approach.

Tips for Success in Online Healthcare Degree Programs

• Adopt effec­tive time man­age­ment and orga­ni­za­tion­al skills
• Engage in online class dis­cus­sions and learn from your peers and professors
• Expand your net­work with your peers, pro­fes­sors, and alumni
• Max­i­mize avail­able stu­dent sup­port ser­vices and resources
• Stay informed on health­care indus­try trends

Conclusion

Online health­care degree pro­grams offer qual­i­ty, flex­i­bil­i­ty, and acces­si­bil­i­ty for their stu­dents. When you earn an online health­care degree, you’re ready for career growth, too. High­er roles and salaries await.

But choos­ing the best health­care degree demands inten­sive research, too. You must con­sid­er your inter­ests and goals in choos­ing a health­care degree. You want to choose one that will bring the best bang for your buck (cost vs. returns).