Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Mitchell Technical College

The earnings trajectory here is worrisome: graduates start at $35,074 but see their income drop 16% to just $29,365 by year four. That backward slide suggests these allied health roles may be part-time, have high turnover, or lack advancement opportunities—a significant concern when you're carrying $16,500 in debt. Among South Dakota's four schools offering this program, Mitchell Technical sits squarely in the middle, neither standing out nor falling behind state norms.

The debt load itself is manageable at 0.47 times first-year earnings, below the typical one-to-one benchmark. However, that declining income curve fundamentally changes the picture. By year four, when many borrowers are still making payments, the debt-to-earnings ratio effectively worsens to 0.56. The small sample size (under 30 graduates) adds another layer of uncertainty—these numbers might not represent what your child would actually experience.

If your child is set on allied health in South Dakota, Lake Area Technical or National American University-Rapid City show slightly better starting salaries without the earnings drop-off Mitchell's data suggests. Before committing here, insist on understanding why incomes decline so sharply—talk to recent graduates about whether they're working full-time and whether the jobs they're landing actually use their training.