Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Tacoma Community College

The small sample size here demands caution, but Tacoma Community College's allied health program posts numbers that would make it exceptional if they hold up—graduates earn $58,382 right out of the gate, beating Washington's state median by 34% and landing in the 95th percentile nationally. Within Washington, only Highline College shows stronger first-year earnings among comparable programs. That's a meaningful difference when many medical assisting graduates struggle to break $40,000.

The debt load of $18,220 translates to just 31 cents owed for every dollar earned in year one, which is manageable territory. Earnings climb to nearly $65,000 by year four, suggesting graduates are either advancing in their roles or transitioning into higher-paying positions within healthcare. For a two-year degree, these trajectories are hard to fault.

The catch: with fewer than 30 graduates in the dataset, these figures could shift considerably with a larger sample. A few high earners in specialized roles could be skewing the average upward. Still, even discounting for sample uncertainty, this program appears to outperform most medical assisting alternatives in Washington. If your child is considering this field and comfortable with the typical hands-on clinical work, Tacoma Community College offers a compelling path—just verify current job placement rates and whether recent cohorts are seeing similar outcomes.