Healthcare Business Becomes the Business of the Bloustein School
Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs Emeritus Dona Schneider (left) and Dean Emeritus and Distinguished Professor James W. Hughes (right) were instrumental in the growth of the public health and health administration programs at the Bloustein School.
While the Bloustein School’s founding is recorded as 1992, the development of the school’s undergraduate program can trace its formation to the 1960s with the Urban Studies and Community Development (USCD) major. A growing interest in community health across the United States in the 1970s soon led Rutgers to add a new major in public health administration, with many of the original USCD faculty teaching courses in the area.
By 1980, USCD was renamed the Department of Urban Studies and Community Health (USCH) and offered two undergraduate majors: a pre-professional accredited B.S. in Public Health Administration, and a liberal arts B.A. in Urban Studies.
While enrollments remained fairly steady over the next few decades, the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 saw a resurgence of interest in improving the health and well-being of populations across the globe. An unprecedented explosion in the undergraduate public health population at the Bloustein School followed and has continued ever since.
Within the public health major, certificate programs in long-term care administration, public health preparedness and education, addictions prevention, and public health administration were also offered. By 2014 nearly one-quarter of all public health majors registered for courses and certificates in health administrative areas, seeking internships and jobs in hospital and private healthcare sectors.
During this time Professor and Associate Dean Dona Schneider helped guide this interest into a new major in health administration, which would focus heavily on the ethical, economic, and operational sides of the public health field. Health administration enrollments sparked immediately, new faculty members were hired, and students began taking the first courses in the fall of 2015.
“As soon as we launched the health administration major, it was clear we needed a master’s program,” said Dr. Schneider. “We had an immediate demand for it from our students, as well as from current healthcare professionals looking to advance their careers.”
University Professor Emeritus Raphael J. Caprio (far right), founding executive director of the Master of Health Administration program, addresses an early MHA cohort.
With a rapidly growing undergraduate major, University Professor and Bloustein Undergraduate Program Director Raphael J. Caprio recognized the need to provide advanced training to healthcare professionals and agreed to lead a new Master of Health Administration (MHA) program.
“While developing the MHA curriculum, we wanted to connect with high-level professionals and practitioners in the field,” said Dr. Caprio, who served as the first MHA program director. “We wanted our students to have the most relevant, up-to-date knowledge and be prepared to make an immediate impact in healthcare fields.”
The school was fortunate to have experienced, high-level executives already teaching in the undergraduate public health and health administration programs. Vincent Joseph, former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick and Somerset, and Stephen Jones, former President and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, became two of the first Practitioners in Residence for the MHA program.
“From the start, Vince and Steve were amazing resources in not just helping develop the program, but getting the word out to their former colleagues and healthcare networks,” said Dr. Caprio.
The school enrolled the first cohort of students in the MHA program in 2017. In keeping with the school’s mission, the MHA further prepares students for leadership and management positions in government, nonprofit, public, and private organizations. In its first year, more than 100 students applied to the program, with an initial enrollment of 80 students.
The need for experienced healthcare administrators became even greater when the pandemic struck. As more students began applying, the school recognized the need to increase financial support for the cohort.
“Healthcare administrators are the key to an organization’s success, and in order to advance in an organization higher level education is needed,” said Dr. Schneider. “Much like our urban planning and public policy programs, we were hoping to establish funding that would provide support to train the next generation of healthcare leaders.”
Just five years after enrolling the first students, the MHA was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). “Achieving accreditation in such a short period of time—and during a pandemic—reflects the hard work and commitment the Bloustein School’s faculty and staff have contributed in the past several years,” Dr. Caprio said at the time.
Two years later, U.S. News & World Report recognized the quality education and curriculum and important contributions to the professional health care field of the Rutgers Master of Health Administration (MHA) program, ranking it 32nd out of 91 programs nationwide. In 2025, it was ranked #28.
“Achieving CAHME accreditation and a national ranking—as well as moving up in the rankings—is a testament to our strong curriculum and our commitment to provide a health management education that is challenging, dynamic, and rewarding for our students,” said Bloustein School Dean Stuart Shapiro. “We are proud to say that the Bloustein School is contributing to the next generation of healthcare leaders.”
The Bloustein School student, alumni, faculty, and staff cohort at the 2025 American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) conference in Houston, Tx.
In 2021 an anonymous donor created the Health Administration Program Student Support Fund dedicated to graduate students enrolled in the health administration programs at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. The funds are utilized for recruitment, fellowship awards, student travel to conferences or competitions, and other student needs.
Angelina Cerasani MHA ‘24 was one of the students to benefit from the new fund. “The collaborative and dynamic environment at Bloustein fostered my professional growth and strengthened my commitment to improving healthcare systems. I am deeply grateful to have been awarded funding from the Health Administration Student Support Fund, as it further enhanced my experience by easing the financial burden of completing my degree,” she said.
“The award allowed me to focus on my coursework and stay on track for graduation. This support was instrumental in my transition into a health administration career, providing the resources necessary to gain valuable experience and network within the industry.”
Since 2023, 29 MHA students have also been granted scholarships to travel to the national Congress of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the gold standard in professional development for healthcare management. Nicole Candelario BS ‘22, MHA ‘24 was selected to attend the 2024 ACHE Congress in Chicago.
“The scholarship to attend the conference provided an exceptional leadership opportunity to learn and network,” she said. “I was able to connect with fellow healthcare professionals, and the sessions I attended were instrumental in my professional growth as an early careerist. It was wonderful hearing from leaders in the field about the interpersonal skills that are crucial for success, and how to apply them to my own career.”
Briana Hernandez was the inaugural Stephen K. Jones Memorial Scholarship Recipient. From left to right: Steve Jones Jr., Yvette Jones, Health Administration Program Executive Director Soumitra Bhuyan, Briana Hernandez, Barbara Jones, and Lydia Stockman.
This past year the first MHA recipient was awarded the Stephen K. Jones Master of Health Administration Memorial Scholarship. Having taught two decades of health administration students at Bloustein and an inaugural member of the school’s Advisory Board, Steve was instrumental in resourcing opportunities to promote and strengthen the Bloustein School’s academic and research programs, and its partnerships with communities and organizations in New Jersey and beyond. Upon his death in late 2021, family, friends, and former colleagues, students, and mentees made plans to establish a scholarship at Rutgers in his name.
“Steve was deeply committed to our health administration programs here at the Bloustein School,” said Dr. Caprio. “He repeatedly indicated that after a lifetime of leadership in healthcare, teaching here was what he really wanted to do in his ‘second’ career.”
“I am incredibly honored and grateful to be an inaugural recipient of the Stephen K. Jones Master of Health Administration Memorial Scholarship,” said Briana Hernandez MHA ‘25. “It was a true pleasure meeting the Jones family at the Bloustein School’s Scholars Brunch, and learning about Mr. Jones’s incredible legacy in healthcare leadership. This recognition serves as a powerful reminder of the impact compassionate, visionary leaders can have on our communities. I am inspired to carry that spirit forward in my own journey.”
To further expand career opportunities in health administration, in early 2023, the Rutgers University Board of Governors unanimously approved a new Doctor of Health Administration degree. The new DHA will facilitate mid-level and senior health care professionals’ clinical and/or administrative experiences into opportunities to teach, shape public policy, and lead complex organizations.
Soumitra Bhuyan, Ph.D., MHA, who took over as executive director of health administration programs in July 2024, says the 66-credit program will include credits in leadership, applied research and an applied research project.
“I am thrilled that health administrators and managers in New Jersey and the surrounding states will be able to expand their education and advance their careers with this new program,” he said. Curriculum development and marketing efforts are underway with plans to enroll a first cohort in the fall of 2025.
To make a gift to support graduate students enrolled in the Bloustein School’s Health Administration program through recruitment, fellowship awards, and student travel to conferences or competitions research, visit go.rutgers.edu/hastudentsupport. Gifts to support the Stephen K. Jones Master of Health Administration Memorial Scholarship may be made to go.rutgers.edu/jonesscholarship.