Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Southern Technical College

Southern Technical College's allied health certificate costs $11,250 and leads to starting earnings around $28,000—which beats the state median by about $2,000 and ranks in the 60th percentile among Florida's 99 programs. The debt load is modest, requiring less than half a year's salary to repay, and sits well below the national median. With 70% of students receiving Pell grants, this program serves working-class students who need an affordable entry into healthcare support roles.

The challenge is what happens after graduation: earnings barely budge over four years, staying under $29,000. Compare that to several public technical colleges in Florida—Manatee Tech, Lorenzo Walker Tech, and others—where similar programs launch graduates into the mid-$30,000s. That $5,000-7,000 earnings gap compounds year after year. The program works as designed for immediate employment, but it doesn't position graduates for the wage growth that neighboring schools deliver.

For families comfortable with the $28,000 salary band long-term, this represents reasonable debt and faster workforce entry than most alternatives. But if your child is considering allied health in Florida, the public technical college option deserves serious attention—similar training, similar timeline, meaningfully better earning potential.