Tacoma Community College Allied Health and Medical Assisting (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services
- Public college
- Tacoma, WA
- About 108 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Tacoma Community College allied health and medical assisting graduates earn more than graduates of most allied health and medical assisting programs nationally, $32,779 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $10,937 in federal loans, close to the national median of $9,500. Several Washington programs report higher pay.
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 certificate programs that report the figure.
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.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $116 a month, or 4.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Seattle area are about 11% above the national average, so a $32,779 salary here buys what about $29,495 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 Tacoma Community College
Allied Health and Medical Assisting ranks 2nd of 4 certificate programs at Tacoma Community College by first-year earnings. The top three are Paralegal Studies ($50,681), Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($32,779), and Sales and Merchandising ($26,283).
Other allied health and medical assisting certificate programs near Tacoma
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,779 one year after graduating. The median across allied health and medical assisting certificate programs in Washington is $37,969.
The median federal loan balance is $10,937, which ranks 3rd lowest of 6 allied health and medical assisting certificate programs in Washington. That works out to about $116 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%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Washington programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
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