Undergraduate certificate · Chicago, Illinois

Is Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College worth it?

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

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

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.8 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $43,616; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $44,149; 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: $7k (likely $7k – $9k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $5k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in IL; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.8 years (likely 1.1–5.5); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$4k (likely −$38k – $32k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $31k (likely −$37k – $101k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 19%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26