The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee offers a Master of Science in Health Care Informatics through its Zilber College of Public Health, combining programming, database design, clinical systems, and health data analytics. Students can complete the degree online or on campus and finish with either a professional project or a research thesis.
Quick Facts
| School | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Zilber College of Public Health) |
| Location | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Degree | Master of Science in Health Care Informatics |
| Credits | 33 credits (project option) or 36 credits (thesis option) |
| Format | Fully online or on campus; full-time or part-time |
| Typical Length | Not published; about four semesters full time (est.); five-year maximum |
| Estimated Tuition | About $25,080 for 33 credits at the 2026–27 online program rate of $760 per credit |
| Admissions | Bachelor’s degree; GRE required only if GPA is below 3.0; rolling fall and spring admission |
| Completion Options | 3-credit professional project or 6-credit thesis |
| Other Informatics Degrees | MS Health Care Informatics/MLIS coordinated degree (57 credits); PhD in Biomedical and Health Informatics with the Medical College of Wisconsin |
Program Overview
The UW-Milwaukee MS in Health Care Informatics is offered by the Zilber College of Public Health. The program focuses on using information technology, data analytics, and automation to improve health care.
Coursework covers systems analysis and design, database design and management, clinical decision support, and computer programming. Students also study research areas such as big data, predictive analytics, natural language processing, and medical knowledge representation.
The program is designed for both full-time and part-time students. The director of the Health Care Informatics program advises new students, who are later assigned a faculty advisor who serves as their major professor.
Curriculum and Completion Options
According to the 2026–2027 UWM academic catalog, the degree requires 24 credits of core courses, 6 credits of electives, and either a 3-credit professional project or a 6-credit thesis.
Core courses (24 credits):
- Introduction to Health Care Informatics
- Essential Programming for Health Informatics
- Health Care Systems Applications: Administrative and Clinical
- Legal, Ethical and Social Issues in Health Care Informatics
- Introduction to Biomedical Database Applications
- Computational Intelligence in Health Informatics
- Big Data and Machine Learning in Health and Beyond
- Public Health Principles and Practice
Electives (6 credits): Students choose two courses from options such as Healthcare Information Systems Analysis and Design; Biomedical and Healthcare Terminology and Ontology; Introduction to Biostatistics; Predictive Analytics, Machine Learning, and AI in Health; Text Retrieval and Its Applications in Biomedicine; Biomedical Natural Language Processing; and Biomedical Information Extraction. Other electives require approval from the student’s major professor.
Project option (33 credits): Students apply health informatics research and theory to a professional situation under the supervision of a major professor.
Thesis option (36 credits): Students plan, carry out, and report original applied or basic research. The thesis committee includes the major professor and at least two other graduate faculty members, and students must pass an oral defense of the completed thesis.
Other Informatics Degrees at UWM
The coordinated MS Health Care Informatics/MLIS program lets students earn the Health Care Informatics MS and a Master of Library and Information Science at the same time. It requires at least 57 credits: 27 in health care informatics and 30 in library and information science. Students are admitted to each program separately, both degrees are awarded together, and the time limit is seven years. The catalog notes that the MLIS portion can be completed online.
The PhD in Biomedical and Health Informatics is an interdisciplinary doctoral program offered with the Medical College of Wisconsin and housed in UWM’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. It requires 58–63 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree, and up to 24 credits from a related master’s degree may apply. Students choose one of six tracks: Translational Bioinformatics, Knowledge Based Systems, Health Services Management and Policy, Health Information Systems, Medical Imaging and Instrumentation, or Public Health Informatics.
PhD applicants typically need a master’s degree in informatics or a related field, or an MD, along with two recommendation letters and GRE, GMAT, or MCAT scores taken within the last five years. Doctoral students complete qualifying and preliminary examinations and a dissertation within a 10-year limit.
Admissions Requirements
Applicants must meet UWM Graduate School admission requirements, which include a bachelor’s degree and a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.75. Applicants below 2.75 may show readiness for graduate study through other routes. The Graduate School charges a $75 application fee.
The catalog states that a GRE score is required only when an applicant’s GPA is below 3.0. Applicants submit a reason statement. No specific undergraduate major is required. Typical applicants have a background in a health-related or computer-related field, and applicants from other fields are reviewed case by case.
The program page says it accepts applications for fall and spring semesters on a rolling basis without fixed deadlines. Prospective students should confirm current requirements, testing policy, and deadlines with the Zilber College of Public Health before applying.
Tuition, Fees, and Funding
UWM’s Fall 2026 tuition and fee schedule lists a 2026–27 rate of $760 per credit for the online Health Care Informatics program. That rate applies regardless of residency and does not include segregated fees, instructional technology fees, or differential tuition.
- Online, project option: $760 × 33 credits = $25,080
- Online, thesis option: $760 × 36 credits = $27,360
Students enrolled in the on-campus program pay standard graduate tuition. The Fall 2026 schedule lists $1,075.21 for one resident graduate credit, including $367.46 in segregated fees, which leaves $707.75 per credit in tuition. The same calculation gives $1,563.98 per credit for nonresidents and $1,061.63 for students who qualify for the Midwest rate.
- On campus, Wisconsin resident: $707.75 × 33 credits = $23,355.75
- On campus, nonresident: $1,563.98 × 33 credits = $51,611.34
- On campus, Midwest rate: $1,061.63 × 33 credits = $35,033.79
On-campus tuition plateaus at 8 credits per semester, so students who take 8 or more credits in a term may pay less than these per-credit totals. On-campus students also pay segregated fees of up to $878.95 per semester, and online or hybrid classes carry a $20-per-credit instructional technology fee. These estimates exclude future rate changes, course fees, books, health insurance, and living costs.
According to the tuition schedule, taking only online classes does not qualify a student for the online program rate. Students must be enrolled in the designated online program, so applicants should confirm how they will be billed with the program before enrolling. Financial aid is available through UWM Student Financial Services.
Online Format and Time to Completion
UWM offers the MS courses both face to face and online. The catalog states that mid-career professionals can complete the degree fully online. Students can enroll full time or part time.
UWM does not publish a typical completion time. A student taking 9 credits per semester would need about four semesters to finish 33 credits, and part-time students will take longer. All requirements must be completed within five years of first enrollment.
Career Preparation
According to the catalog, graduates should be able to build software and database solutions for health care, create data analysis pipelines, evaluate informatics applications, and assess the resources needed to design clinical information systems.
The program lists settings such as health systems, hospitals, physician offices, medical group practices, nursing homes, and government agencies. Roles mentioned include health data or information resource manager, health information system application designer, health analyst, compliance officer, and IT consultant.
Career fit depends on each student’s prior clinical, technical, or management experience. The program does not promise a specific job, salary, or professional credential.
Who Is This Program For?
UW-Milwaukee may fit working professionals who want a technically focused health informatics master’s degree that they can complete online. It may also fit students interested in programming, databases, machine learning, and natural language processing in health settings, as well as those who want a thesis route that can lead to UWM’s PhD.
Students who want a management-focused degree with less programming, or a program with a set cohort schedule, should compare other options. Applicants interested in librarianship or information organization may want to look at the coordinated MLIS degree instead.
Related Health Informatics Programs
- Herzing University (Nursing Informatics) - Milwaukee
- Milwaukee School of Engineering (Nursing Informatics) - Milwaukee
- University of Wisconsin–Madison - Madison