Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Widener University

Widener's medical assisting program reports extraordinary outcomes—$62,000 in first-year earnings that nearly doubles Pennsylvania's median of $33,000 and places graduates in the 95th percentile both statewide and nationally. Even compared to Harcum College, the state's second-best program at $49,000, these numbers stand out dramatically. The debt load of $19,000 is entirely reasonable, creating a 0.31 debt-to-earnings ratio that most associate degree programs can only dream about.

Here's the critical caveat: this program has fewer than 30 graduates in the data, which means these exceptional numbers might reflect a handful of particularly successful students rather than a reliable pattern. Medical assisting associate degrees typically lead to earnings in the mid-$30,000s nationally, so Widener's reported outcomes are genuinely unusual for this credential. It's possible graduates are leveraging Widener's healthcare connections or pursuing different career tracks than typical medical assistants, but with such limited data, it's impossible to know if future students will see similar results.

If your child is passionate about allied health and Widener is offering competitive aid, the low debt makes this a manageable risk. But given the small sample size and the vast gulf between these numbers and typical program outcomes, have honest conversations with current students and recent graduates before assuming these earnings represent what your child should expect.