Medical Assistant Program at South Puget Sound Community College

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

For students seeking an accredited, high-outcome medical assisting career in Washington, SPSCC delivers both fast-track certificate and AAS options with a 95% exam passage rate and 100% satisfaction.

This page provides up-to-date program costs, outstanding graduation and employment data, accreditation details, contact information, and interactive resources including Google Reviews, Maps, and Campus Videos.

CMA AAMA: Medical Assistant Program Overview at SPSCC

The Medical Assisting program at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) in Olympia, WA, provides an accredited pathway to a rewarding and high-demand career in healthcare. This hands-on program trains students in essential administrative and clinical tasks, including managing electronic medical records, scheduling, phlebotomy, and administering injections. Students can achieve a Certificate in Medical Assisting in less than one year or an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree in less than two years.

Because Washington is one of six states requiring formal medical assisting education, choosing an accredited program is essential. SPSCC’s program has maintained its CAAHEP accreditation (initial accreditation April 26, 1996), ensuring graduates meet state requirements and are well-prepared to sit for the national CMA (AAMA) Certification Exam.

Program Performance & Outcomes

The SPSCC Medical Assisting program consistently demonstrates high success rates. Based on the cumulative 5-year average (2019–2023) data, key outcomes include:

• Exam Passage Rate: 95%
• Retention Percentage: 74.79%
• Employer Satisfaction (2023): 100%
• Graduate Satisfaction (2023): 100%

Tuition, Funding, and Career Outlook

While the estimated tuition and fees for the certificate total around $5,741.55, the program is highly accessible thanks to SPSCC’s Workforce Funding options. Eligible students may receive assistance to cover tuition, fees, books, and supplies. Career prospects are strong, with common job titles like Lab Medical Assistant and Telehealth Medical Assistant. Graduates report average annual earnings around $55,000 (SPSCC data), exceeding the national median of $44,200, and the job outlook is projected to be much faster than average. The program is conveniently offered in a hybrid/blended format at the Olympia and Lacey campuses and is led by Program Director Jolyn Ponder.

SPSCC’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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