Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at ATA Career Education

With such a small graduating class, these numbers should be treated as a rough signal rather than a definitive picture. That said, what they suggest isn't encouraging: graduates earn about $29,000 regardless of whether they're fresh out or four years into their careers, while taking on $25,500 in debt to get there.

The Florida context makes this harder to ignore. While the debt load matches the state median for medical assisting programs, earnings fall $5,000 short of what's typical across Florida's 43 programs. When you can attend Santa Fe College or St. Petersburg College—public institutions where similar program graduates earn over $40,000—the value proposition here becomes murky. The 92% Pell grant rate tells you this school serves students who can least afford to bet on a program that underperforms state norms.

The flat earnings trajectory is particularly troubling for a healthcare field where experience typically translates to higher wages. Your child would be making essentially the same salary in year four as in year one, while carrying debt that equals nearly a full year's income. Given the small sample size, you might wait to see if more data emerges, but right now this looks like a situation where Florida's community colleges offer better outcomes at lower cost.