Which Illinois allied health and medical assisting program has the lowest debt?

Lewis and Clark Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $6,360, with first-year pay of $32,224.

How much do allied health and medical assisting graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 12 Illinois allied health and medical assisting certificate programs is $31,918 in the first year after graduating and $39,900 five years after.

Allied Health and Medical Assisting (Certificate) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many allied health and medical assisting certificate programs are in Illinois?

12 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

12 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Certificate in Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois allied health and medical assisting certificate program pays its graduates $31,918 in their first year, $3,836 more than the national median. College of DuPage reports the highest first-year pay ($40,196), and Lewis and Clark Community College the lowest median debt ($6,360).

Median first-year pay$31,918National $28,082

Median pay after 5 years$39,900National $32,287

Median federal debt$9,500National $9,500

Debt-to-earnings28%National 36%

All 12 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	College of DuPageGlen Ellyn · public	$40,196	Not reported	$10,656	27%
2	William Rainey Harper CollegePalatine · public	$36,111	$65,904	$9,834	27%
3	City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X CollegeChicago · public	$35,140	Not reported	$11,000	31%
4	First Institute of TravelCrystal Lake · private for-profit	$33,597	$35,717	$9,500	28%
5	Lewis and Clark Community CollegeGodfrey · public	$32,224	Not reported	$6,360	20%
6	Midwestern Career CollegeChicago · private for-profit	$31,998	Not reported	$7,521	24%
7	John A Logan CollegeCarterville · public	$31,837	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Lake Land CollegeMattoon · public	$28,124	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	State Career CollegeGurnee · private for-profit	$26,123	$35,468	$9,500	36%
10	Midwest Technical Institute-IllinoisSpringfield · private for-profit	$25,826	$29,441	$9,500	37%
11	CALC Institute of TechnologyAlton · private for-profit	$23,038	$28,299	$8,360	36%
12	Danville Area Community CollegeDanville · public	$22,812	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

John A Logan College, Lake Land College, and Danville Area Community College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois allied health and medical assisting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

College of DuPage$40,196
William Rainey Harper College$36,111
City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College$35,140
First Institute of Travel$33,597
Lewis and Clark Community College$32,224

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$46,090

Median pay in Illinois. 20,260 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $36,400Top 10%: $56,590

Pharmacy Technicians

$46,650

Median pay in Illinois. 21,340 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,550Top 10%: $58,260

Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians

$71,950

Median pay in Illinois. 10,330 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.

Bottom 10%: $44,980Top 10%: $99,970

Surgical Technologists

$64,650

Median pay in Illinois. 3,570 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.

Bottom 10%: $48,560Top 10%: $91,890

Common questions

College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,196. Its median federal debt is $10,656.

Allied Health and Medical Assisting (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked443 programs by pay and debt Allied Health and Medical Assisting (Associate's) programs in Illinois, ranked14 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Illinois rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the allied health and medical assisting certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024