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Medical Assisting: Schools, Apprenticeships & Licensing by State

Two ways in: pay for school (1,403 U.S. schools offer Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services programs at certificate/associate level, median net price $11,842/yr) or get paid to train (262 registered apprenticeship programs in the federal database). Unlicensed in most states — employers expect CCMA/CMA certification; many programs are Pell-eligible; largest program footprint of the 20 trades (1,631 schools).

US schools (category)
1,403
Median net price / yr
$11,842
Median earnings (10 yrs after entry)
$37,522
school-wide medians, all programs
Apprenticeship programs
262
paid training

Working medical assisting professionals earn a median of $45,200/yr nationally — state medians range from $35,360 (Mississippi) to $59,290 (Washington). Wage data: U.S. Dept of Labor via CareerOneStop.

Licensing at a glance — 10 states verified so far

No state license: Texas, Florida, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan — employers typically expect industry certification instead.

We've verified licensing rules for 10 states so far, each cited to the official board on its state page — more are being added. States not listed above may well require a license: always confirm with your state's licensing authority before enrolling.

Medical Assisting aid deadlines & apprenticeship alerts

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Medical Assisting schools & apprenticeships by state

About half of states run their own apprenticeship agencies (including NY, MN, OR, VT, WA, DC) and are under-reported in the federal database — a low count there does not mean apprenticeships don't exist in that state.

School data: U.S. Dept of Education College Scorecard (most recent release, pulled July 2026). Apprenticeship data: U.S. Dept of Labor. Licensing summaries cited to official state boards per state page. Methodology.