Today’s aspiring healthcare professionals are choosing online bachelor of health science degrees to get ahead. These flexible programs not only prepare students for exemplary jobs in the healthcare industry. They are also a perfect step toward master’s or doctorate programs. Plus, students with associate’s degrees can finish a bachelor’s program faster with transferable credits.
However, online bachelor of health science degrees and allied health programs can cost upwards of $73,000 in tuition! You may be set up for a well-salaried career later, but an expensive degree can drain your current budget. That’s where GetEducated comes in!
The following “Best Buy” list is a survey of the cheapest online bachelor of health science programs! To create this ranking, we researched 28 health science bachelor’s degrees from 28 regionally accredited, online schools. The best online colleges for health science offer an accredited education combined with the qualities working professionals prefer.
ARTICLE NAVIGATION: Rankings Table | Career Guide
Average Cost (In-state): ~$48,300
Least Expensive: Georgia Highlands College – $15,656.00
Most Expensive: Thomas Jefferson University – $73,800
Our data-driven research of public and non-profit colleges creates a genuinely reliable system of scientific rankings. There are no misleading formulas here. We meticulously calculate total full-time tuition—including any fees—for the most accurate total cost. Our rankings cannot be bought, and they factually showcase the cheapest online bachelor of health science degrees. The bachelor’s in health science programs listed above the gray dividing line are official 2022 “Best Buys” and cost less than the national average.
Most Affordable Online Bachelor of Health Science
| Rank | School / Degree | State | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia Highlands College | (GA) | $15,656.00 $47,416.40 | In-State Out-of-State |
2 | Georgia Southern University | (GA) | $24,544.12 | All Students |
3 | University of the Cumberlands | (KY) | $24,680.00 | All Students |
4 | Fort Hays State University | (KS) | $27,225.60 | All Students |
5 |  Shawnee State University | (OH) | $33,360.00 $33,960.00 | In-State Out-of-State |
6 | Central Methodist University | (MO) | $33,675.00 | All Students |
7 | Nicholls State University | (LA) | $36,255.60 | All Students |
8 |  Southern New Hampshire University | (NH) | $38,550.00 $27,150.00 | In-State/Out-of-State Military |
9 | West Virginia State University | (WV) | $42,388.00 | All Students |
10 | University of South Dakota | (SD) | $42,570.00 $30,000.00 | In-State/Out-of-State Military |
11 | Texas Woman's University | (TX) | $45,313.20 $94,273.20 | In-State Out-of-State |
12 | Wilmington University | (DE) | $47,140.00 $30,340.00 | In-State/Out-of-State Military |
13 | University of Louisiana at Monroe | (LA) | $48,000.00 | All Students |
13 | Touro University Worldwide | (CA) | $48,000.00 | All Students |
| School / Degree | State | Price | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberty University | (VA) | $48,892.00 $30,100.00 | In-State/Out-of-State Military | |
University of Missouri-Columbia | (MO) | $49,230.00 $60,426.00 $46,735.20 | In-State Out-of-State Military | |
Utica University | (NY) | $53,255.00 | All Students | |
Los Angeles Pacific University | (CA) | $54,000.00 | All Students | |
Radford University | (VA) | $54,960.00 $57,240.00 | In-State Out-of-State | |
Mary Baldwin University | (VA) | $55,850.00 | All Students | |
University of Memphis | (TN) | $56,280.00 | All Students | |
Bellevue University | (NE) | $56,710.00 | All Students | |
University of the Incarnate Word | (TX) | $64,890.00 $30,090.00 | In-State/Out-of-State Military | |
National University (School Merged) Bachelor of Science in Allied Health 14 | (CA) | $66,600.00 | All Students | |
Excelsior University | (NY) | $67,085.00 | All Students | |
 Alvernia University | (PA) | $69,495.00 | All Students | |
Presentation College Bachelor of Science in Health Science 14 | (SD) | $72,740.00 | All Students | |
Thomas Jefferson University | (PA) | $73,800.00 | All Students |
Accreditation & Program Notes
To qualify for a ranking, a program must be regionally accredited. Additional programmatic accreditation is noted in the rank table.
14 Options for this program have changed since publication.
Rankings Note
These online college rankings are based on a GetEducated Summer 2022 review of regionally accredited online bachelor of health science degree programs. Total cost includes full-time tuition and fees and was valid at the time of collection and specific to the online learning program. School profiles for the online bachelor degree programs in our directory may reflect a slightly different cost based on different editorial update schedules.
The published cost is an estimated sticker price for the entire online degree including fees. Actual costs may vary by student. Factors such as transfer credits, prerequisite courses, professional licensing and financial aid availability will affect final cost.
Editorial Note
Online schools do NOT pay to be included in any GetEducated online degree ranking. These rankings are editorially independent, open to any non-profit regionally accredited or candidate college that offers a bachelor’s degree that is available at least 80 percent through online learning and that is open to enrollment by the public. If your online college is regionally accredited and not currently reviewed by GetEducated, please contact us for inclusion.
These rankings of the cheapest online schools for health science may NOT be re-posted online or reprinted in any format without a license from GetEducated ®. Consumer finance bloggers and writers can contact our editors for a free custom article on the best online bachelor of health science programs for use on your website. Our mission: Help consumers GetEducated ® about the best online colleges for cost and credibility.
Career Guide: Online Bachelor of Health Science
Health science is an engaging, interesting topic. It’s important to the wellbeing of an individual and the overall health of a community. An online bachelor of health science allows you to contribute to the critical medical industry while leading to numerous high-paying, stable careers.
If you want to unlock new innovations to complex health issues, a degree in health science may be the right choice.
What to Expect from an Online Bachelor of Health Science
Unless you have already taken college courses, you’ll likely start these programs with general-education classes. These may include history, literature, government, art, humanities, and other courses that create a well-rounded college graduate.
Eventually, you’ll transition into classes that are focused on health science. You’ll learn to apply critical-thinking skills to health-related problems, and you’ll gain skills for analyzing health and illness information.
These programs deliver a variety of classes that shape you into an expert in health and science. Titles may vary, but you can expect courses to cover topics like microbiology, anatomy, physiology, and chemistry. You may take classes that are important for a healthcare career, developing your knowledge in medical ethics, health communication, and medical terminology.
Classes that take a deep dive into illness and common health issues will be essential to this education. You may study immunology and virology, as well as other topics that are fundamental to a health sciences career.
Online bachelor of health science degrees can be very affordable, but you need to research the top programs to find one that fits your budget. When looking at tuition for these degrees, we found that the average price, out of 27 different programs, was just over $46,000. While the most expensive was almost $83,000, the lowest-cost program was only $21,502.80. So there are affordable options, you simply need reliable resources to find them.
When complete, you’ll be able to identify and address health issues. You’ll have skills that allow you to research diseases, find reliable solutions, and help people create better health outcomes.
Best Careers in Health Science
Microbiologist
- Salary: $79,260
- Education: Bachelor’s
- Experience: None
A microbiologist is a professional who studies small lifeforms such as bacteria, algae, and fungi, as well as viruses. They plan and conduct research, perform lab experiments, supervise the work of other scientists, and identify important microorganisms. All of this is done to better understand organisms and how they live, grow, and interact with the environment.
One downside to this profession is the growth outlook, which is expected to be less than the average growth for all jobs across the U.S. The microbiologist profession will only grow by 5% compared to 8% national growth. However, there should be roughly 2,000 openings per year as workers retire or transfer to new jobs.
Medical Scientist
- Salary: $95,310
- Education: Doctorate
- Experience: None
Highly trained and well compensated, medical scientists try to improve overall human health through research and innovation. Specific duties can range from lab work to writing papers to the supervision of scientists. On any given day, a medical scientist may design studies on human disease, analyze medical samples, test clinical devices, or develop programs that improve health and wellbeing among entire communities.
These professionals need advanced scientific and medical training. In addition to an online bachelor of health science, a medical scientist will need a medical degree or a Ph. D in biology or a related field. With this education, you’ll be rewarded financially, as the median salary is over $95,000 and the top 10% earn over $166,000. The expected career growth is also high. Because of an increasing need for advanced medical services, positions for medical scientists will grow by 17%, adding 22,600 jobs between 2020 and 2030.
Additional Requirements for Working in Health Science
There are many different careers for graduates with an online bachelor degree in health science. Each career has its own requirements for experience, training, and certifications.
If you take your career into medical service, working in a profession where you directly administer medical care (nursing, care provider, etc.) you will certainly need certification through the state.
But many of the careers after an online bachelor of health science involve research and scientific development. You may not need certification for these careers, but you will (likely) need further advancement in the classroom. Medical scientists or biochemists need a doctorate-level education, while an epidemiologist needs a master’s degree. Some health-science careers require only a bachelor’s degree (environmental scientist, chemist, food scientist, etc) but specific training and additional courses may be required.