• Course Descriptions
• FAQs
• Online Experience
• Summer Institute

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the aim of the program?
2. Does the M.S. Health Law degree prepare students to practice law or to take a bar examination?
3. Who enrolls in the program?
4. What are the admissions requirements?
5. Do I have to take the GRE or the LSAT?
6. Will law students be in the same classes?
7. Is the program accredited?
8. Who is NSU?
9. How long will it take me to get my degree?
10. Can I work while I earn my degree?
11. Does that mean I am totally free to check into and out of my courses at any time?
12. Where will I take classes?
13. So how does each class work?
14. What type of technical support is offered to students?
15. What types of courses will be taught?
16. What is the Individual Research Project
17. How will my diploma read?
18. How much will this cost?
19. What are the technical Requirements?

1. What is the aim of the program?
The M.S. Health Law Program is specifically designed for the mixed population of professionals working on both the "provider" and "payer" sides of the health care industry. It is intended to assist members of those populations in understanding and navigating the regulations governing the health care industry, and in communicating with lawyers on the job. The program does not prepare students to practice law or to sit for any bar examination, but it does provide in-depth instruction of the law, its function and the myriad of regulations governing the health care industry .

2. Does the M.S. Health Law degree prepare students to practice law or to take a bar examination?
No, the M.S. Health Law degree does not prepare students to practice law or sit for a bar examination.

3. Who enrolls in the program?
The program has enrolled health care financial managers, information officers, nurses, risk managers, compliance officers, nurse paralegals, dentists, psychologists, health care facilities administrators and employees of federal and state governmental health-care-related entities.

4. What are the admissions requirements?
The program is open to students who hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited school, and have been working in the area of health care, insurance or managed care for at least two years.

5. Do I have to take the GRE or the LSAT?
No, you need not take a standardized test to be admitted to the M.S. Health Law Program.

6. Will law students be in the same classes?
These classes are especially designed for master level degree seeking students. At this time, attorneys, law students or graduates of law schools are permitted in the program.

7. Is the program accredited?
Yes. The Shepard Broad Law Center is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the American Association of Law Schools. NSU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The American Bar Association Section of Legal Education has acquiesced in the Law Center's offering the M.S. Health Law program.

8. Who is NSU?
Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is the largest, private/independent university in Florida. NSU has provided traditional and distance educational options at bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels to over 63,000 students since 1964.

9. How long will it take me to get my degree?
The M.S. Health Law is a 2-year program. Approximately a year-and-a-half will be spent taking classes. The final six months will be spent working on an Individual Research Project.

10. Can I work while I earn my degree?
The M.S. Health Law Program is designed to allow health care professionals to continue working while obtaining their degrees. With the exception of a few brief on-campus Health Law Institutes, students never have to leave their own homes. All coursework can be accomplished at a time most convenient to each student, without requiring compromise of career or other obligations.

11. Does that mean I am totally free to check into and out of my courses at any time?
It means that you are free to determine the times of day at which you wish to do your classwork. The program is not, however, a free-form program permitting you to check in with each class infrequently. Rather, the courses provide a great deal of interactivity, requiring you to check into threaded discussion boards virtually each day.

12. Where will I take classes?
All courses are offered via the Web with the exception of three short residential Institutes. Students log on at their own convenience and use email, chat rooms, streaming audio and video, and bulletin boards to communicate with other students and faculty members in a system called WebCT.

13. So how does each class work?
Each course will require you to work, along with your classmates on a series of modules. All students must proceed through the modules together. Within each module (which roughly represents about a week of course time), each student must complete a reading assignment, click into audio or video clips constructed by the professor, respond to problems on a threaded discussion board and submit an assignment (often in the form of a quiz).

14. What type of technical support is offered to students?
Technical support is available through the NSU Law Center's Help Desk as well as a comprehensive Web page devoted to troubleshooting WebCT issues.

15. What types of courses will be taught?
Every student enrolled in the M.S. Health Law Program must complete the following eight courses: Administrative Law; Law of Accreditation and Licensing; Law of Medicare and Medicaid; Law of Patients' Rights and Advocacy; Legal Perspectives on Health Care Ethics; Legal Research, Methods & Reasoning; Legal Regulation of the Workplace; and Tort & Contract Law. Thereafter, students may choose from a variety of electives to complete course credit requirements.

16. What is the Individual Research Project?
After completing the required number of class credits, students each must complete a 3 Credit Individual Research Project Seminar. Students may choose the topics of their Individual Research Projects by identifying a health-law-related situation at their workplaces and working toward a solution that benefits both them and their employers. Students may also choose scholarly topics of individual interest. This class will be taken in seminar format . All Courses must be successfully completed before students may register for the IRP.

17. How will my diploma read?
Master of Science

18. How much will this cost?
Tuition is $545 per course credit. Financial aid is available for this program to the extent that it is available for any graduate-level educational program.

19. What are the technical Requirements?

Hardware:

• Pentium II 266 Mhz or AMD processor (Pentium III at 400Mhz or higher recommended, AMD Athalon Processor or compatible also recommended).
  
• 64MB RAM (128MB RAM recommended).
  
• 56k V.90 Modem. (recommended).
  
• 8x CD-ROM (higher speed recommended).
  
• 8MB Video Card or higher recommended.
  
• 4 GB Hard Disk free space (8 GB or higher recommended).
  
• 128K cache.
  
• 32 bit Sound Blaster card or compatible sound card.
  
• ISP (Internet Service Provider) (a DSL line recommended)
  
• Printer (optional)
  
• Speakers and a Microphone

Software:

• Office 97 or 2000 including Word, Power Point, Excel.
  
• Internet Explorer 5.0 or Netscape Navigator 4.7 or higher recommended
  
• Windows 98 SE, Windows NT or Windows 2000 (recommended).
  
• Real Player which you can download for free.
  
• Anti virus (McAfee or Norton recommended)

Requirements also include: DirectX version 3.0 or later is recommended.