Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Access Careers-Islandia

Access Careers-Islandia graduates earn about $5,000 less than the typical New York medical assistant—a significant gap when you're already starting at just $23,067 in year one. This program ranks in only the 25th percentile among New York schools, meaning three-quarters of similar programs in the state produce better outcomes. Compare this to top programs like Mildred Elley, where graduates earn $36,000, and the value proposition becomes harder to justify.

The positive here is genuinely low debt at $6,099, which graduates can realistically pay off even on entry-level medical assistant wages. That 24% earnings growth to $28,693 by year four suggests some career progression, though even that figure falls short of what peers at other schools earn right out of the gate. The extremely low Pell grant participation rate (2%) is puzzling and worth investigating—it may indicate this program isn't serving the typical community college population.

For a parent, the question is straightforward: why choose a program that delivers below-average outcomes when dozens of alternatives exist in New York? Unless location is an absolute constraint, your child would likely be better served at one of the many programs where graduates start $7,000-13,000 higher. In medical assisting, where pay is already modest, that initial salary difference compounds over time.