Medical Assistant Program at Harper College

✔️ Page Updated: December 26th, 2025 | Current for 2026, learn more about our data 🛈

The highly-rated (4.3) Harper College Medical Assistant Certificate is a long-established path to CMA certification in Palatine, boasting an 83.33% graduation rate.

This page provides up-to-date program costs, graduation and employment data, accreditation details, contact information, and interactive resources such as Google Reviews, Maps, and Campus Videos to help you quickly evaluate your decision.

CMA AAMA: Medical Assistant Program Overview at HC

The Medical Assistant Certificate program at Harper College is a highly respected, 36-credit-hour offering that prepares students for essential roles in physician’s offices and outpatient settings across the region. Located at 1200 West Algonquin Road in Palatine, IL, this focused program has maintained continuous accreditation since June 1976 and provides comprehensive training in both administrative and clinical competencies.

Curriculum Highlights and Course Requirements

The program ensures students receive a strong foundation in core healthcare knowledge and practical skills. Students must maintain a grade of C or better in all core courses to progress.

• Required core courses include: BIO 135 (Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology), HSC 112 (Medical Terminology), and MOA 195 (Principles of Health Insurance Billing).
• The curriculum emphasizes practical application covering crucial areas like patient communication, electronic record keeping, clinical assisting duties, diagnostic testing, and medication administration.
• Training culminates in the MOA 280 Medical Assistant Externship, which requires 160 hours of supervised experience in a local health care facility.

Career Outcomes and Certification

A key outcome of completing the program is the eligibility to sit for the national certification examination sponsored by the AAMA, leading to the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA-AAMA) credential. Harper College consistently demonstrates strong student success, with recent cohorts showing impressive retention and exam passage rates. For instance, the 2024 group achieved a 100% retention rate.

All 36 credit hours earned in this certificate are stackable toward Harper’s Health Care Office Manager Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree, offering a valuable path for further career advancement.

Program Contact

For more details, contact Kendra Uhe, the Program Director, at kuhe@harpercollege.edu.

HC’s Medical Assistant Program Data

Our Data

Our Medical Assistant Program Data is carefully researched and curated from the following government and higher education organizations.

• CAAHEP (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs) – CAAHEP is the largest programmatic accreditor for health sciences education and the official medical assisting program accreditor for the National CMA (AAMA) Certification Exam.
• IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) – A comprehensive database of U.S. colleges and universities.
• Peterson’s Database – Includes detailed college information and their Distance Learning Licensed Data Set.
• College Scorecard – A U.S. Department of Education tool offering key statistics on college costs, graduation rates, and student outcomes.
• NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) – The primary federal source for data and analysis on education in the U.S. such as cost of tuition. Our data shows average cost of tuition and fees for Public 2 year institutions per state.
• BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) – May 2024 Occupational Outlook Handbook Medical Assistants Data for Salary and Employment. Our data shows the mean annual salary and the total number of employed MAs per state.

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