Des Moines Area Community College Allied Health and Medical Assisting (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services
- Public college
- Ankeny, IA
- About 11 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Des Moines Area Community College allied health and medical assisting graduates earn more than graduates of most allied health and medical assisting programs nationally, $38,511 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $12,834 in federal loans, more than at 82% of allied health and medical assisting programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying allied health and medical assisting programs in Iowa.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Iowa and national columns are the medians across all allied health and medical assisting certificate programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa allied health and medical assisting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $136 a month, or 4.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (17 of 18) were working in Iowa one year after graduating. Prices in the Des Moines area are about 8% below the national average, so a $38,511 salary here buys what about $41,996 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to allied health and medical assisting, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Medical Assistants
$45,480Median pay in Iowa. 5,990 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 109,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Pharmacy Technicians
$44,860Median pay in Iowa. 4,630 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 44,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians
$54,260Median pay in Iowa. 3,240 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 20,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Surgical Technologists
$60,540Median pay in Iowa. 950 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
About Des Moines Area Community College
Allied Health and Medical Assisting ranks 5th of 9 certificate programs at Des Moines Area Community College by first-year earnings. The top three are Homeland Security ($54,209), Funeral Service and Mortuary Science ($49,355), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($45,688).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,511 one year after graduating. The median across allied health and medical assisting certificate programs in Iowa is $33,579.
The median federal loan balance is $12,834, which ranks 2nd lowest of 5 allied health and medical assisting certificate programs in Iowa. That works out to about $136 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 33% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 36%.
Most do. 94% (17 of 18) were working in Iowa one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Iowa comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the allied health and medical assisting program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024