Healthcare Systems Engineering, MS

Location(s): Main Campus

The Master of Science in Healthcare Systems Engineering (MS HSE) degree is offered through the School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering (SSIE). The MS HSE degree provides a balance of theory and practical knowledge for the practice of the profession and/or for advancement to a doctoral program. In recognition of the high concentration of healthcare providers in the greater Binghamton area, this program has been structured to serve both full-time and part-time graduate students. This program prepares individuals for professional or leadership roles in various healthcare areas, including hospital operations management, health systems engineering, health information technology, and consulting. Students in this program will attain a wide variety of industrial and systems engineering tools and skill sets, such as modeling and simulation, statistical process control, Lean Six Sigma, data science and analytics, reliability modeling, scheduling, human factors engineering and ergonomics, and optimization, among others.

Important Information:

Many of the graduate courses in the School of SSIE are also offered through EngiNet (Watson College Distance Learning Program).
All of the School of SSIE graduate programs (including all available concentrations) are available fully online in addition to the traditional on-campus offerings.
Any graduate student who may have taken an undergraduate course that is cross-listed with a graduate course will already have earned the credit for the undergraduate course. Note that the student will not be eligible to earn graduate-level credit for the cross-listed graduate course at a later date and will not be eligible to take the course again at the graduate level.

Admission Requirements

Applicants who have already earned a BS degree in engineering or a related field are invited to apply for admission to this program.

Applications are considered for both spring and fall semesters and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Recommended submission dates for fall semester admission: Apply before Feb. 1 for funding consideration or April 1 for regular admission.
Recommended submission dates for spring semester admission: Apply before Oct. 15 for funding consideration or Nov. 15 for regular admission.

Graduate students who are well qualified may receive assistantships, such as teaching assistantships (TA), research project assistantships (RPA), or graduate assistantships (GA). Funding decisions are decided among the admitted pool of applicants during the spring semester for fall admissions and as needed for spring admissions.

Applications to degree programs should include:

Official transcript(s), although unofficial transcripts are acceptable for initial application
Two letters of recommendation
A personal statement including mention of interests
Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores (this requirement may be waived at the discretion of the graduate director)
International applicants should also include:
- Proof of English proficiency (such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), PTE academic scores, or Duolingo)
- Immigration and financial documentation (i.e., the International Student Financial Statement and statement of financial support/bank statement)

Program Requirements

In addition to the requirements listed below, a student whose undergraduate degree is not in engineering may be required to complete some preparatory study, to be defined by the director of graduate studies based on the candidate’s background. The preparatory study does not count toward the graduate degree.

To complete the MS in Healthcare Systems Engineering, students must must maintain at least a B average in all graduate coursework.

Required Courses (18 credits)

The six required courses include nine credits of core ISE courses and nine credits of core health systems courses.

For students with adequate backgrounds, the required courses may be substituted with electives with consent from the director of graduate studies and/or the chair of the school.

Elective Courses and Degree Completion Options

Upon completing the core requirements, students will be able to complete their program with one of the following three options to attain eligibility for degree conferral:

Thesis Option

Two additional graduate-level courses from the school, at least one of which must be at the 600-level (6 credits)

SSIE 599 - Thesis - Oral presentation and defense of the thesis are required (Minimum 6 credits)

Project Option

Three additional graduate-level courses from the school, at least one of which must be at the 600-level (9 credits)

SSIE 598 - MS Termination Project - Oral presentation and defense of the termination project are required (Minimum 3 credits)

Coursework-only Option

Three additional graduate-level courses from the school (9 credits)

SSIE 637 - Advanced Topics in Health Syst which includes significant project-based coursework to serve as a capstone for the termination requirement of the program

Additional Information about the Program

For more information on the Healthcare Systems Engineering MS program, please refer to the Systems Science and Industrial Engineering Graduate Programs website. To apply to the Healthcare Systems Engineering MS program, please visit the University Graduate Admissions website.