Health and Medical Administrative Services at Ross Medical Education Center-Saginaw

Ross Medical Education Center-Saginaw's health administrative services certificate lands right at Michigan's median for earnings but trails the national average by about $3,000 annually. With first-year graduates earning $24,758 and modest growth to $26,729 after four years, your child would be starting at roughly $12 per hour in a field where better programs—including other Ross locations in Ann Arbor, Brighton, and Davison—produce graduates earning $28,570. That $4,000 annual gap adds up quickly when you're trying to pay off debt and build financial stability.

The $9,500 debt load is reasonable in absolute terms and represents just 38% of first-year earnings, making it manageable. However, the earnings here aren't keeping pace with what's possible in this field, even within Michigan. The program serves a predominantly Pell-eligible student body (85%), suggesting it fills an important access role for lower-income students, but the return on investment lags behind comparable certificate programs at community colleges like Schoolcraft, where graduates earn $29,298.

If your child is committed to medical administration and Ross is the most accessible option in Saginaw, the debt won't sink them. But if they can access other Ross locations or community colleges with stronger track records, those extra few thousand dollars in annual earnings will compound significantly over a career. The earnings trajectory here is essentially flat, which means there's limited upside beyond that initial placement.