ROI Major

Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Lincoln Land Community College

IL · Associate's Degree · CIP 51.08

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services degree from Lincoln Land Community College earn a median salary of $58,910 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in IL, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $64,172. The degree typically pays for itself in 9.3 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$46,636

Typical Career

$58,910

Top Performers

$70,955

Estimated break-even: 9.3 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$393

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $4,909. Most students can comfortably afford about a $393 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.5x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.8x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Illinois buys what costs $0.92 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Public Administration, Educational Services.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 35.1%
Public Administration 13.1%
Educational Services 10.6%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$64,172

Nominal: $58,910 in Illinois (COL 91.8% of national avg) · 8.9% higher purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

9.3 years to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $31,118 $41,644 $50,564
5 Years After Graduation $46,636 $58,910 $70,955
10 Years After Graduation $51,828 $64,005 $76,873

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $58,910 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in IL, which has a cost-of-living index of 91.8% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $58,910 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9180) = $64,172 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services program at Lincoln Land Community College can expect a positive earnings trajectory. The median earnings one year after graduation stand at $33,018, which increases to $46,793 five years post-graduation and reaches $62,520 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary equivalent nationally is approximately $50,972.77, indicating that graduates maintain a competitive earning potential relative to the cost of living.

The primary industries that graduates enter are predominantly within Health Care & Social Assistance, with 35.1%, 34.4%, and 34.1% of graduates finding employment in this sector. Given the estimated break-even point of approximately 12.6 years compared to a high-school-only path, the return on investment for pursuing this program appears favorable. This suggests that the program not only provides a pathway to stable employment but also offers a reasonable financial return over time.

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See how the Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services degree at Lincoln Land Community College stacks up against another institution side-by-side.

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Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.