Undergraduate health administration education in the 1990s

The current destabilizing period of the health care industry and higher education has major implications for undergraduate education, especially given its adolescent stage of development. Although undergraduate programs have progressed a great deal in gaining acceptance within the industry and the academy, it must not be assumed that curricula, programs, or a consortium of programs can rest on past accomplishments. This paper has attempted to describe the threats and opportunities facing undergraduate programs and to discuss some strategies for future development that might be explored collectively or individually. It is hoped that the above observations will provoke a healthy dialogue as well as a plan of action by undergraduate programs. Undergraduate health administration programs must respond to the future and make themselves relevant and necessary to the new challenges facing the field of both practice and higher education.