Hawkeye Community College Health and Medical Administration (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Certificate in Health and Medical Administrative Services
  • Public college
  • Waterloo, IA
  • About 3 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Hawkeye Community College health and medical administration graduates earn about what health and medical administration graduates earn nationally, $32,126 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $21,500 in federal loans, more than at 91% of health and medical administration programs in the country. Two other Iowa programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$32,12674th percentile of 281 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$34,8939% more than year one
Median federal debt$21,5005th lowest of 5 Iowa programs
Debt-to-earnings67%Iowa median 52%, national 41%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Iowa and national columns are the medians across all health and medical administration certificate programs that report the figure.

Five years out, Hawkeye Community College graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Iowa median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa health and medical administration program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa medians.

Hawkeye Community CollegeOther Iowa programs

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

What graduates earn over time

Pay rises about 9% between the first and fifth year.

Hawkeye Community College grads, year 1$32,126
Hawkeye Community College grads, year 5$34,893
All Iowa health and medical administration grads, year 5$35,685

Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $228 a month, or 8.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

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 Waterloo area are about 13% below the national average, so a $32,126 salary here buys what about $36,902 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 health and medical administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$64,400

Median pay in Iowa. 10,190 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $43,680Top 10%: $97,710

Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

$40,980

Median pay in Iowa. 10,560 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 89,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $35,240Top 10%: $50,130

Medical Assistants

$45,480

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,730Top 10%: $54,960

Computer User Support Specialists

$58,810

Median pay in Iowa. 6,140 people work in this job in Iowa. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 39,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: some college, no degree.

Bottom 10%: $37,740Top 10%: $85,680

About Hawkeye Community College

Health and Medical Administration ranks 3rd of 3 certificate programs at Hawkeye Community College by first-year earnings. The others are Welding and Machining ($45,509) and Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($32,834).

Other health and medical administration certificate programs near Waterloo

Common questions

The median graduate earns $32,126 one year after graduating and $34,893 five years after. The median across health and medical administration certificate programs in Iowa is $32,126.

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 health and medical administration program.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

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