Best Medical Assistant programs in Iowa, 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.
15 schools in Iowa run programs that feed this job, graduating 373 people a year. The job pays a median of $45,480 in Iowa across about 5,990 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Iowa that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Iowa that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Iowa (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 Iowa page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medical/Clinical Assistantmain feeder CIP 51.0801In Iowa → | 365 | 97.9% | 15 | $29,507 | $11,000 |
| 2 | CIP 51.0711In Iowa → | 8 | 2.1% | 1 | $30,774 | $17,375 |
Top 15 schools in Iowa
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 15 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercy College of Health Sciences Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 118 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 66% | $23,694 | 100% |
| 2 | Kirkwood Community College Cedar Rapids, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 54 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $36,939 | 43% | — | — |
| 3 | Southeastern Community College West Burlington, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $36,202 | 43% | — | — |
| 4 | Ross College - Davenport Davenport, IA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $27,186 | 65% | $22,912 | — |
| 5 | Eastern Iowa Community College District Davenport, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 45% | — | — |
| 6 | Iowa Central Community College Fort Dodge, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $34,317 | 42% | — | — |
| 7 | Western Iowa Tech Community College Sioux City, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $37,483 | 50% | — | — |
| 8 | Hawkeye Community College Waterloo, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $39,614 | 43% | — | — |
| 9 | Iowa Western Community College Council Bluffs, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 40% | — | — |
| 10 | Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $38,511 | 39% | — | — |
| 11 | North Iowa Area Community College Mason City, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $44,455 | 61% | — | — |
| 12 | Northeast Iowa Community College Calmar, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $32,840 | 51% | — | — |
| 13 | Marshalltown Community College Marshalltown, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 42% | — | — |
| 14 | Ellsworth Community College Iowa Falls, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | — | 38% | — | — |
| 15 | Orion Technical College Davenport, IA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Medical/Clinical Assistant | $32,377 | 81% | $22,677 | — |
All 15 schools in Iowa
Every school in Iowa 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy College of Health Sciences | Des Moines | Private not-for-profit | 118 | 1 |
| Kirkwood Community College | Cedar Rapids | Public | 54 | 2 |
| Southeastern Community College | West Burlington | Public | 50 | 1 |
| Ross College - Davenport | Davenport | Private for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| Eastern Iowa Community College District | Davenport | Public | 24 | 1 |
| Iowa Central Community College | Fort Dodge | Public | 22 | 1 |
| Western Iowa Tech Community College | Sioux City | Public | 13 | 1 |
| Hawkeye Community College | Waterloo | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Iowa Western Community College | Council Bluffs | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Des Moines Area Community College | Ankeny | Public | 9 | 1 |
| North Iowa Area Community College | Mason City | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Northeast Iowa Community College | Calmar | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Marshalltown Community College | Marshalltown | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Ellsworth Community College | Iowa Falls | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Orion Technical College | Davenport | Private for-profit | 5 | 1 |
What medical assistants earn in Iowa
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $45,690. Iowa pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Iowa
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 Iowa
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 Iowa.
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 365 degrees in Iowa in 2024-25, 97.9% 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 373 people a year in Iowa.
How much do medical assistants earn in Iowa?+
The median is $45,480 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.5% 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 Iowa?+
15 institutions in Iowa 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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