Massachusetts·Office and Administrative Support Occupations·SOC 43-6013

Best Medical Secretary programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment

Perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures.

10 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 56 people a year. The job pays a median of $50,290 in Massachusetts across about 22,210 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledUnit ClerkMedical SecretaryMedical ReceptionistUnit Support RepresentativeSchedulerSecretaryWard ClerkWard Secretary
Graduates / yr
56
in Massachusetts
Median pay · Massachusetts
$50,290
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
22,210
people employed
Schools
10
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
27%
across those schools
Median net price
$21,982
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

5 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (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 Massachusetts page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
126
46.4%
6$30,774$17,375
220
35.7%
2$30,774$17,375
36
10.7%
2$30,774$17,375
43
5.4%
1$30,774$17,375
51
1.8%
1$30,774$17,375

Top 10 schools in Massachusetts

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 10 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Holyoke Community College
Holyoke, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
19Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller29%
2Bristol Community College
Fall River, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
6Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary22%
3Quinsigamond Community College
Worcester, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
6Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary22%
4Middlesex Community College
Bedford, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
5Medical Reception/Receptionist23%
5Springfield Technical Community College
Springfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
5Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary$40,06232%
6Bunker Hill Community College
Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary$35,29813%
7North Shore Community College
Danvers, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary$33,63818%
8College of Our Lady of the Elms
Chicopee, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist$44,31968%$21,98285%
9Cape Cod Community College
West Barnstable, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
2Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary22%
10Northern Essex Community College
Haverhill, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
2Medical Office Assistant/Specialist$37,51421%

All 10 schools in Massachusetts

Every school in Massachusetts 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.

All schools in Massachusetts that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Holyoke Community CollegeHolyokePublic191
Bristol Community CollegeFall RiverPublic61
Quinsigamond Community CollegeWorcesterPublic61
Middlesex Community CollegeBedfordPublic51
Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfieldPublic51
Bunker Hill Community CollegeBostonPublic41
North Shore Community CollegeDanversPublic41
College of Our Lady of the ElmsChicopeePrivate not-for-profit31
Cape Cod Community CollegeWest BarnstablePublic22
Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhillPublic22

What medical secretaries and administrative assistants earn in Massachusetts

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Massachusetts
$50,290
Mean annual
$52,910
Jobs in state
22,210
What the range looks like
10th pct$41,460Median$50,29090th pct$63,030
Versus the national median
+9.5%

U.S. median $45,930. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.99×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Massachusetts

Barnstable Town, MA
$51,940median
560 jobs
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
$51,600median
16,330 jobs
Worcester, MA
$47,290median
2,860 jobs
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$47,880median
320 jobs
Pittsfield, MA
$48,930median
530 jobs
Springfield, MA
$47,780median
1,030 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.2%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
85,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
35,300
850,000 → 885,300
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

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 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants page.

How to become a Medical Secretary

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

SpeakingActive ListeningReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Massachusetts

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 7 majors mapped to Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 01.8201Veterinary Administrative Services, General
  • 01.8204Veterinary Administrative/Executive Assistant and Veterinary Secretary
  • 51.0710Medical Office Assistant/Specialist
  • 51.0711Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist
  • 51.0712Medical Reception/Receptionist
  • 51.0714Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller
  • 51.0716Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary

Common questions

Answers for people weighing medical secretaries and administrative assistants programs in Massachusetts.

What degree do you need to become a Medical Secretary?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary, which awarded 26 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 46.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Medical Secretary?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Health and Medical Administrative Services. Together they graduate about 56 people a year in Massachusetts.

How much do medical secretaries and administrative assistants earn in Massachusetts?+

The median is $50,290 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.5% above the U.S. median of $45,930. 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 secretaries and administrative assistants growing?+

BLS projects a +4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 85,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+

10 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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 secretaries and administrative assistants work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Unit Clerk, Medical Secretary, Medical Receptionist, Unit Support Representative among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-6013.

Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in other statesFloridaCaliforniaKentuckyIndianaColoradoNew YorkOhioWyoming

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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