ROI Major

Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services at Northwestern Connecticut Community College

CT · Associate's Degree · CIP 51.08

Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services degree from Northwestern Connecticut Community College earn a median salary of $44,849 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in CT, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $38,898. The degree typically pays for itself in 68.1 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

$36,215

Typical Career

$44,849

Top Performers

$55,817

Estimated break-even: 68.1 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$299

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $3,737. Most students can comfortably afford about a $299 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.2x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.6x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Connecticut buys what costs $1.15 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

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

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 24.5%
Educational Services 11.4%
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services 10.9%

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

$38,898

Nominal: $44,849 in Connecticut (COL 115.3% of national avg) · 13.3% lower 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).

68.1 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 $27,525 $35,528 $50,083
5 Years After Graduation $36,215 $44,849 $55,817
10 Years After Graduation $34,107 $41,019 $67,570

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 $44,849 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in CT, which has a cost-of-living index of 115.3% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $44,849 × (1.0 ÷ 1.1530) = $38,898 National Average equivalent.

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

Career Verdict

Graduates from the Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services program at Northwestern Connecticut Community College can expect a progressive earnings trajectory. The median earnings one year after graduation stand at $32,677, increasing to $41,964 five years later, and reaching $48,030 by the ten-year mark. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary aligns more closely with a national equivalent of $36,395.49, reflecting the higher cost of living in Connecticut, where the cost of living index is 1.153 compared to the national average of 1.0.

The majority of graduates enter the Health Care & Social Assistance sector, with 47.9% employed in this field one year post-graduation, followed by 29.1% and 24.5% in subsequent years. The estimated break-even point for this educational path versus a high-school-only route is approximately 23.9 years, suggesting that while the program offers a solid return on investment over time, the financial benefits may take a significant duration to fully materialize. This analysis indicates that students should weigh their long-term career goals against the time required to achieve financial parity.

Compare with Another School

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

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Other Degrees at Northwestern Connecticut Community College

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.