Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Chabot College

Similar Allied Health programs in California typically produce first-year earnings around $49,000, which would place this community college pathway well above the national benchmark of $37,000. At an estimated $14,000 in debt—substantially lower than both the state median ($19,000) and national median ($20,000)—the math looks considerably more manageable than what you'd see at many private institutions offering comparable credentials. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.29 suggests graduates could potentially pay off their loans in under six months if they dedicated a quarter of their income to it.

However, understand what you're looking at: these figures represent other California programs' outcomes, not Chabot's actual graduate results. The department suppressed this school's specific data due to small sample sizes, which could mean the program is quite small or that tracking graduates proved difficult. Meanwhile, private colleges like Carrington and Concorde are placing their Allied Health graduates into positions earning $60,000+—about $11,000 more annually—though almost certainly at higher debt loads.

The community college advantage here is cost containment. If your child can match the state's typical Allied Health outcomes while keeping debt in the low-to-mid teens, they'd be positioned reasonably well for entry into healthcare support roles. Just recognize you're making this decision without knowing how Chabot's specific graduates actually perform—whether they're beating these estimates or falling short.