Best Medical Assistant programs in Alabama, ranked by enrollment
Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes.
20 schools in Alabama run programs that feed this job, graduating 758 people a year. The job pays a median of $36,100 in Alabama across about 13,300 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Alabama that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Alabama that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Alabama (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Alabama page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medical/Clinical Assistantmain feeder CIP 51.0801In Alabama → | 758 | 100.0% | 20 | $29,507 | $11,000 |
Top 20 schools in Alabama
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 12 of the 20 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northeast Alabama Community College Rainsville, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 124 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $17,055 | 56% | — | — |
| 2 | Fortis College - Montgomery Montgomery, AL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 99 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $23,496 | 46% | $20,866 | — |
| 3 | Fortis Institute - Birmingham Birmingham, AL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 96 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $25,556 | 34% | $25,961 | — |
| 4 | Fortis College Mobile, AL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $23,496 | 49% | $24,111 | — |
| 5 | Ross Medical Education Center - Huntsville Huntsville, AL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,905 | 51% | $21,675 | — |
| 6 | Fortis College - Dothan Dothan, AL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $23,035 | 61% | $19,071 | — |
| 7 | Remington College - Mobile Campus Mobile, AL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,037 | 42% | $26,969 | — |
| 8 | J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College Huntsville, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 14% | — | — |
| 9 | Northwest Shoals Community College Muscle Shoals, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $22,798 | 39% | — | — |
| 10 | Southern Union State Community College Wadley, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 36% | — | — |
| 11 | George C Wallace Community College - Dothan Dothan, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $26,719 | 35% | — | — |
| 12 | Chattahoochee Valley Community College Phenix City, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 36% | — | — |
| 13 | George C Wallace State Community College - Hanceville Hanceville, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $37,346 | 51% | — | — |
| 14 | Central Alabama Community College Alexander City, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 33% | — | — |
| 15 | Herzing University - Birmingham Birmingham, AL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $34,039 | 13% | $20,803 | 93% |
| 16 | H Councill Trenholm State Community College Montgomery, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 16% | — | — |
| 17 | Bevill State Community College Jasper, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 38% | — | — |
| 18 | Enterprise State Community College Enterprise, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 42% | — | — |
| 19 | Coastal Alabama Community College Bay Minette, AL Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 31% | — | — |
| 20 | South University - Montgomery Montgomery, AL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $39,761 | 9% | $25,720 | — |
All 20 schools in Alabama
Every school in Alabama with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast Alabama Community College | Rainsville | Public | 124 | 1 |
| Fortis College - Montgomery | Montgomery | Private for-profit | 99 | 1 |
| Fortis Institute - Birmingham | Birmingham | Private for-profit | 96 | 1 |
| Fortis College | Mobile | Private for-profit | 78 | 1 |
| Ross Medical Education Center - Huntsville | Huntsville | Private for-profit | 60 | 1 |
| Fortis College - Dothan | Dothan | Private for-profit | 55 | 1 |
| Remington College - Mobile Campus | Mobile | Private not-for-profit | 51 | 1 |
| J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College | Huntsville | Public | 38 | 1 |
| Northwest Shoals Community College | Muscle Shoals | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Southern Union State Community College | Wadley | Public | 27 | 1 |
| George C Wallace Community College - Dothan | Dothan | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Chattahoochee Valley Community College | Phenix City | Public | 15 | 1 |
| George C Wallace State Community College - Hanceville | Hanceville | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Central Alabama Community College | Alexander City | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Herzing University - Birmingham | Birmingham | Private not-for-profit | 10 | 1 |
What medical assistants earn in Alabama
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $45,690. Alabama pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Alabama employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Alabama
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Medical Assistants page.
How to become a Medical Assistant
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Alabama
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Medical Assistants3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0711Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist
- 51.0801Medical/Clinical Assistant
- 51.0809Anesthesiologist Assistant
- 51.0813Chiropractic Technician/Assistant(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing medical assistants programs in Alabama.
What degree do you need to become a Medical Assistant?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Medical/Clinical Assistant, which awarded 758 degrees in Alabama in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Medical Assistant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. Together they graduate about 758 people a year in Alabama.
How much do medical assistants earn in Alabama?+
The median is $36,100 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.0% below the U.S. median of $45,690. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for medical assistants growing?+
BLS projects a +12.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 112,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Alabama?+
20 institutions in Alabama reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do medical assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Doctor's Assistant, Chiropractor Assistant, Certified Medical Assistant (CMA), Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-9092.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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