MEDICAL ASSISTANT SCHOOLS IN NORTH CAROLINA — Federal Data, September 2026
Medical Assistant Schools in North Carolina, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
14 accredited institutions in North Carolina report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 14 ranked programs in North Carolina, the median graduate needs 6.9 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $17,006, against median earnings of $33,208 one year after completion.
That is slower than the national median of 4.9 months for this field, measured across the 840 institutions in our national medical assistant schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Davidson-Davie Community College in Thomasville, at 3.6 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on North Carolina institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about medical assistant schools in North Carolina
The Ranking
14 medical assistant schools in North Carolina, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davidson-Davie Community CollegeThomasville, NC | Public | Certificate | 3.6 | $10,000 | $33,142 | 46% |
| 2 | Nash Community CollegeRocky Mount, NC | Public | Associate | 4.6 | $14,882 | $38,589 | 41% |
| 3 | Southeastern College-CharlotteCharlotte, NC | for-profit | Certificate | 5.1 | $12,890 | $30,453 | 77% |
| 4 | Southwestern Community CollegeSylva, NC | Public | Associate | 5.3 | $18,702 | $42,374 | 53% |
| 5 | Central Piedmont Community CollegeCharlotte, NC | Public | Associate | 5.8 | $17,512 | $35,967 | 31% |
| 6 | Gwinnett CollegeRaleigh, NC | for-profit | Certificate | 6.4 | $16,258 | $30,360 | 63% |
| 7 | Fayetteville Technical Community CollegeFayetteville, NC | Public | Associate | 6.6 | $18,236 | $33,112 | 24% |
| 8 | Pitt Community CollegeWinterville, NC | Public | Associate | 7.2 | $20,700 | $34,294 | 35% |
| 9 | Cabarrus College of Health SciencesConcord, NC | nonprofit | Associate | 7.5 | $23,307 | $37,422 | 71% |
| 10 | Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown, NC | Public | Associate | 7.9 | $24,002 | $36,277 | 31% |
| 11 | Miller-Motte College-RaleighRaleigh, NC | for-profit | Certificate | 8.7 | $16,500 | $22,869 | 79% |
| 12 | Miller-Motte College-FayettevilleFayetteville, NC | for-profit | Certificate | 8.7 | $16,500 | $22,869 | 78% |
| 13 | Miller-Motte College-JacksonvilleJacksonville, NC | for-profit | Certificate | 8.7 | $16,500 | $22,869 | 75% |
| 14 | Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community CollegeAsheville, NC | Public | Associate | 10.6 | $29,500 | $33,274 | 40% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in North Carolina, one by one
Davidson-Davie Community College
Thomasville, NC
Davidson-Davie Community College is a public institution in Thomasville. Its medical assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,000 and report median earnings of $33,142 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.6 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 3.3 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 6.9. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 46% completion rate.
Nash Community College
Rocky Mount, NC
Nash Community College is a public institution in Rocky Mount. Its medical assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $14,882 and report median earnings of $38,589 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.6 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 2.3 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 6.9. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 41% completion rate.
Southeastern College-Charlotte
Charlotte, NC
Southeastern College-Charlotte is a private for-profit institution in Charlotte. Its medical assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $12,890 and report median earnings of $30,453 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.1 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 1.8 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 6.9. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 77% completion rate.
Southwestern Community College
Sylva, NC
Southwestern Community College is a public institution in Sylva. Its medical assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $18,702 and report median earnings of $42,374 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.3 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 1.6 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 6.9. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 53% completion rate.
Central Piedmont Community College
Charlotte, NC
Central Piedmont Community College is a public institution in Charlotte. Its medical assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $17,512 and report median earnings of $35,967 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.8 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 1.1 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 6.9. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 31% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other States
The same program, another state
Other Programs in North Carolina
Comparing a different trade in North Carolina
For NORTH CAROLINA School Operators
Want to know how your program ranks against these?
We run this analysis for individual schools against their own federal data and show them where they sit against both the North Carolina median and the national one. Where the answer is good, it is the strongest recruitment argument a school owns.
Book Your Free Enrollment AuditBy application only — reserved for trade and vocational school operators enrolling 50+ students a year.
