Undergraduate certificate · Downey, California

Is Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Downey Adult School worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 11.1 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $37,225; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $42,430; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: Not enough borrowers to report; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $26k (likely $26k – $26k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $3k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 11.1 years (likely 7.9–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$46k (likely −$69k – −$22k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $14k (likely −$54k – $91k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 32%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26