Best Medical Assistant programs in California, 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.
146 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 12,734 people a year. The job pays a median of $49,660 in California across about 117,060 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (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 California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medical/Clinical Assistantmain feeder CIP 51.0801In California → | 12,733 | 100.0% | 145 | $29,507 | $11,000 |
| 2 | CIP 51.0711In California → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $30,774 | $17,375 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 89 of the 146 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unitek College Fremont, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 673 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $32,827 | 73% | $27,021 | — |
| 2 | American Career College - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 393 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $28,853 | 75% | $28,906 | — |
| 3 | UEI College - Riverside Riverside, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 330 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,039 | 71% | $27,181 | — |
| 4 | UEI College - Fresno Fresno, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 324 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $20,254 | 61% | $30,005 | — |
| 5 | Santa Ana College Santa Ana, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 320 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $28,200 | 31% | — | — |
| 6 | UEI College - Huntington Park Huntington Park, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 297 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,695 | 70% | $29,313 | — |
| 7 | Concorde Career College - San Diego San Diego, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 294 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $30,842 | 76% | $25,970 | 100% |
| 8 | Carrington College - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 289 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $32,311 | 51% | $38,203 | — |
| 9 | American Career College - Anaheim Anaheim, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 286 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $28,853 | 70% | $28,590 | — |
| 10 | San Joaquin Valley College - Visalia Visalia, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 286 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $26,897 | 36% | $30,518 | — |
| 11 | UEI College - Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 282 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $20,254 | 68% | $29,687 | — |
| 12 | Concorde Career College - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 276 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $22,895 | 76% | $24,160 | 98% |
| 13 | UEI College - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 265 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,039 | 60% | $28,742 | — |
| 14 | UEI College - Chula Vista Chula Vista, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 259 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,695 | 71% | $28,465 | — |
| 15 | High Desert Medical College Lancaster, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 235 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $21,504 | 68% | $28,838 | — |
| 16 | Downey Adult School Downey, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 210 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $29,694 | 31% | — | — |
| 17 | UEI College - Gardena Gardena, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 204 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,039 | 60% | $28,919 | — |
| 18 | UEI College - Ontario Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 204 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,695 | 66% | $27,167 | — |
| 19 | UEI College - Reseda Reseda, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 202 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,695 | 74% | $27,592 | — |
| 20 | Central Coast College Salinas, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 195 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $33,709 | 67% | $27,488 | — |
| 21 | Fresno City College Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 190 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $33,838 | 24% | — | — |
| 22 | American Career College - Ontario Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 186 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $25,702 | 66% | $31,076 | — |
| 23 | UEI College - Stockton Stockton, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 183 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $24,695 | 71% | $27,036 | — |
| 24 | Mayfield College Cathedral City, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 178 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $28,928 | 82% | $22,970 | — |
| 25 | Contra Costa Medical Career College Antioch, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 176 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 100% | — | — |
All 146 schools in California
Every school in California 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unitek College | Fremont | Private for-profit | 673 | 1 |
| American Career College - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Private for-profit | 393 | 1 |
| UEI College - Riverside | Riverside | Private for-profit | 330 | 1 |
| UEI College - Fresno | Fresno | Private for-profit | 324 | 1 |
| Santa Ana College | Santa Ana | Public | 320 | 1 |
| UEI College - Huntington Park | Huntington Park | Private for-profit | 297 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - San Diego | San Diego | Private for-profit | 294 | 1 |
| Carrington College - Sacramento | Sacramento | Private for-profit | 289 | 1 |
| American Career College - Anaheim | Anaheim | Private for-profit | 286 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Visalia | Visalia | Private for-profit | 286 | 1 |
| UEI College - Bakersfield | Bakersfield | Private for-profit | 282 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - San Bernardino | San Bernardino | Private for-profit | 276 | 1 |
| UEI College - Sacramento | Sacramento | Private for-profit | 265 | 1 |
| UEI College - Chula Vista | Chula Vista | Private for-profit | 259 | 1 |
| High Desert Medical College | Lancaster | Private for-profit | 235 | 1 |
What medical assistants earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $45,690. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
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 California
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 California.
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 12,733 degrees in California 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 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services, Health and Medical Administrative Services. Together they graduate about 12,734 people a year in California.
How much do medical assistants earn in California?+
The median is $49,660 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.7% above 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 California?+
146 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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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