Rio Grande Valley College Allied Health and Medical Assisting (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services
- Private for-profit college
- Pharr, TX
- About 109 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Rio Grande Valley College allied health and medical assisting graduates earn less than graduates of most allied health and medical assisting programs nationally, $17,989 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $8,947 in federal loans, close to the national median of $9,500. Several Texas programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all allied health and medical assisting certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Rio Grande Valley College graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas allied health and medical assisting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 67% 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 $95 a month, or 6.3% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
92% of graduates (66 of 72) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the McAllen area are about 14% below the national average, so a $17,989 salary here buys what about $20,943 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
$39,520Median pay in Texas. 75,340 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$45,900Median pay in Texas. 41,740 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$59,290Median pay in Texas. 29,530 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$65,220Median pay in Texas. 10,160 people work in this job in Texas. 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 Rio Grande Valley College
Allied Health and Medical Assisting ranks 4th of 4 certificate programs at Rio Grande Valley College by first-year earnings. The top three are Practical Nursing ($46,825), Nursing ($45,266), and Health and Medical Administration ($22,214).
Other allied health and medical assisting certificate programs near Pharr
Common questions
The median graduate earns $17,989 one year after graduating and $30,064 five years after. The median across allied health and medical assisting certificate programs in Texas is $25,032.
The median federal loan balance is $8,947, which ranks 9th lowest of 20 allied health and medical assisting certificate programs in Texas. That works out to about $95 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 50% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 36%. Compare the cost with other Texas programs before deciding.
Most do. 92% (66 of 72) were working in Texas 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 Texas 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