Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Ace Institute of Technology

Ace Institute's medical assisting certificate combines extremely low debt with below-average earnings—graduates owe just $5,375 while earning $25,924 in their first year. That 0.21 debt-to-earnings ratio is exceptional, but the earnings themselves fall short: roughly $2,000 below New York's median for this program and $1,200 below the national average. Among New York's 32 medical assisting programs, this one lands squarely at the 40th percentile, meaning 60% of comparable programs produce higher earners.

The modest 5% earnings growth to $27,242 by year four suggests this program leads to stable but limited career progression. Top New York programs like Mildred Elley produce graduates earning $35,951—nearly $10,000 more annually. Over a decade, that gap compounds to roughly $100,000 in lost earnings, far outweighing the debt savings. The low debt is genuinely valuable, especially for the 51% of students here receiving Pell grants, but it doesn't compensate for consistently trailing the state's better-performing programs.

For families prioritizing minimal financial risk, the negligible debt makes this workable. But if your child can access stronger programs—even with moderately higher borrowing—the earnings premium would likely justify it. Medical assisting offers job security, yet this particular pathway appears to position graduates toward the lower end of the field's pay scale.