Highline College Allied Health and Medical Assisting (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services
- Public college
- Des Moines, WA
- About 46 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Highline College allied health and medical assisting graduates earn more than graduates of most allied health and medical assisting programs nationally, $50,468 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $7,197 in federal loans, less than at 97% of allied health and medical assisting programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying allied health and medical assisting degrees in Washington.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Washington and national columns are the medians across all allied health and medical assisting associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Highline College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $6,480 more than the Washington median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Washington allied health and medical assisting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Washington medians.
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 5% between the first and fifth year.
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 $76 a month, or 1.8% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
82% of graduates (27 of 33) were working in Washington one year after graduating. Prices in the Seattle area are about 11% above the national average, so a $50,468 salary here buys what about $45,412 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
$59,290Median pay in Washington. 19,500 people work in this job in Washington. 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
$58,900Median pay in Washington. 8,150 people work in this job in Washington. 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
$72,760Median pay in Washington. 7,430 people work in this job in Washington. 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
$77,270Median pay in Washington. 2,510 people work in this job in Washington. 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 Highline College
Allied Health and Medical Assisting ranks 2nd of 3 associate's programs at Highline College by first-year earnings. The others are Nursing ($84,619) and Liberal Arts and General Studies ($31,291).
Other allied health and medical assisting associate's programs near Des Moines
Common questions
The median graduate earns $50,468 one year after graduating and $53,059 five years after. The median across allied health and medical assisting associate's programs in Washington is $43,072.
The median federal loan balance is $7,197, which ranks the lowest of 7 allied health and medical assisting associate's programs in Washington. That works out to about $76 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 14% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 50%.
Most do. 82% (27 of 33) were working in Washington 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 Washington 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