Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Western Technical College

Western Technical College's medical assisting program lands below both national and state earnings benchmarks, with first-year graduates earning $23,072—about $1,500 less than the Texas median and $4,000 below the national average. While it ranks in the 40th percentile statewide, that still means 60% of Texas programs deliver better outcomes. More concerning, graduates are earning $8,000-$12,000 less than peers at Houston Community College or Lone Star, even though all are competing in the same regional job market.

The debt load of $11,466 is manageable at half a year's earnings, and minimal growth to $23,597 by year four suggests earnings stabilize quickly rather than decline. However, these are subsistence-level wages in El Paso, where the living wage for a single adult hovers around $30,000. The program trains students for a real job—medical assistants are in demand—but the earnings floor is low and appears to stay there.

If your child is set on medical assisting and can't relocate, this program won't burden them with crushing debt. But you should ask hard questions about why graduates here earn 20-25% less than those at other El Paso-area programs like Pima Medical Institute. That earnings gap compounds to tens of thousands of dollars over a career, making it worth exploring whether better local alternatives exist before committing.