Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Southern Careers Institute-Waco

Southern Careers Institute-Waco's medical assisting program produces concerning earnings outcomes that should give parents serious pause. Despite the modest $9,500 debt load, graduates earn just $21,645 one year after completion—placing this program in the bottom 5% nationally for medical assisting programs. Even within Texas, where medical assisting salaries tend to be lower than the national average, this program still underperforms, ranking only in the 40th percentile statewide.

The earnings trajectory offers little hope for improvement, with graduates seeing minimal growth to just $23,143 by year four. This puts them roughly $4,000 below the Texas median and nearly $4,000 below the national average for similar programs. When you compare this to top Texas programs like Houston Community College ($35,469) or Lone Star College System ($33,233), the gap becomes stark—graduates from those programs earn 50-65% more right out of the gate.

While the debt burden is manageable at less than half of first-year earnings, the fundamental problem is that these earnings barely support independent living in most Texas markets. With 65% of students receiving Pell grants, this appears to be a program serving low-income families who need strong employment outcomes. For families seeking medical assisting training in Texas, community colleges consistently deliver significantly better results for similar or lower costs.