Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College

Earning $40,148 in the first year out places Wilbur Wright's allied health program slightly above the state median for this field—a solid if unspectacular outcome. While the school's actual debt figures are suppressed due to small sample sizes, comparable community college programs in Illinois typically see students borrowing around $17,000 for this associate degree. If that estimate holds true here, you're looking at a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.42—manageable by most standards, meaning graduates could theoretically pay off their loans with less than half of their first year's salary.

The elephant in the room is the earning gap between Wilbur Wright and the top community college programs in the state. Oakton grads earn $52,000 right out of the gate, nearly $12,000 more annually than what Wilbur Wright students typically see. That's not a trivial difference—it compounds over years. Whether location, clinical partnerships, or program reputation drive that gap isn't clear from the data, but it's worth investigating what makes those other programs more lucrative.

For families weighing options, this program clears the basic test: graduates earn more than they borrowed and do better than the national average. But if your child has access to one of Illinois's higher-performing allied health programs without significantly more debt or distance, the numbers suggest that would be the smarter play.