Most important takeaways…
- NHA CCMA first-time pass rate was 81.38 percent in 2024.
- Mildred Elley reported a 98 percent CCMA pass rate in 2026.
- Ask schools for exam name, cohort size, and testing window.
How to Tell Which Medical Assistant Pass-Rate Claims Are Real
Learn to verify CCMA, CMA, and RMA pass-rate claims before you choose a program.
Medical assistant programs almost universally publish certification pass rates, but a 91% CET result and a 98% CCMA result are rarely measuring the same thing. Mildred Elley College's recent press release, highlighting a 98% CCMA pass rate for 2026, is exactly how those claims get marketed.
The practical tension is simple: schools can choose different numerators, denominators, testing windows, and exam versions. Two programs can both say 98% while one tested eight students and the other tested eighty.
Without cohort size, exam name, and testing window, a pass rate is a brochure line, not a quality signal.
Why Every MA Program Advertises a Pass Rate
Medical assistant programs now treat certification pass rates as frontline marketing language, not just an internal quality check, because prospective students increasingly compare exam-readiness before enrolling.
Mildred Elley College's recent press release shows how that framing plays out. The college publicized a 98 percent pass rate on the NHA Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam in 2026, alongside 94 percent on the Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) exam and 91 percent on the Certified EKG Technician (CET) exam in 2024. Those are strong numbers, and the school is right to highlight them. But the announcement itself is an advertisement: its job is to attract applicants who want reassurance that the credential is within reach.
What a Headline Percentage Leaves Out
A single percentage does not tell you how many students sat for the exam, whether the rate reflects first-time test takers, or which cohort and academic year produced the NHA CCMA results. It also may not clarify whether the program coached only the strongest students into testing or excluded those who left before exam day. None of that means a school is lying. It means the number was selected for a press release, and context gets stripped in the process. Healthy skepticism is about asking for the missing frame, not doubting the achievement.
How to Read a Program's Certification Pass-Rate Claim
A certification pass-rate claim is just a fraction: the number of graduates who passed an exam divided by the number who took it. The trouble is that schools can choose different numerators, denominators, time windows, and exams. That changes what the number actually means when you compare medical assistant training programs.
Check the Timeframe
A school that reports a 98 percent pass rate may be citing one strong graduating class, while another school reports a three-year rolling average. Single-year numbers swing more because classes are small. Ask whether the figure covers the most recent cohort, a calendar year, or several years combined.
First-Time vs. Cumulative
First-time pass rates count only a student's initial attempt. Cumulative pass rates often include retakes after remediation. Both are legitimate, but a cumulative rate can look much higher. A program with a 78 percent first-time rate might still advertise 94 percent after several retakes.
Sample Size Matters
A 100 percent pass rate from six test-takers tells you very little. A 90 percent rate from 300 test-takers is more meaningful. If the school will not say how many students sat for the exam, treat the percentage as incomplete.
Which Exam Are They Citing?
CCMA, CMA, RMA, and specialty exams like CPT or CET are not interchangeable. Some programs blend scores across exams or report the easiest one. Confirm which certified medical assistant exam the number refers to.
Keep one question in front of you: "Pass rate of what, over what period, out of how many?"
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Where to Find Independent CCMA, CMA, and RMA Pass-Rate Data
Independent pass-rate data starts with the certifying bodies themselves, not with school marketing pages. The table below shows where to look for the three exam families most relevant to medical assistant credential stacking. If an organization does not publish a national pass rate publicly, ask the program for its own audited results.
| Certifying Organization | Exam(s) Covered | What They Publish | How to Access It |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Healthcareer Association (NHA) | CCMA, CPT, CET | Aggregate national pass rates for each exam | Visit the NHA website or contact NHA directly; schools may also share their program-level NHA pass rates |
| American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) | CMA (AAMA) | Does not publish a simple public national pass-rate table | Request the program's CMA pass rate from the school and verify with AAMA if needed |
| American Medical Technologists (AMT) / National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT) | RMA (AMT), NCMA (NCCT) | Aggregate pass rates are not consistently published for public comparison | Contact AMT or NCCT directly or ask the program for its exam-specific results |
CMA vs CCMA vs RMA: Comparing National Benchmark Pass Rates
Three credentials dominate medical assistant certification: the CMA (AAMA), the NHA CCMA, and the AMT RMA. Among official first-time pass rates currently published, the NHA CCMA reports the highest figure at 81.38 percent for calendar year 2024. Keep in mind that each exam uses a different scoring scale, so pass rates alone are not perfectly apples-to-apples.
| Credential | Issuing organization | First-time pass rate | Reporting window | Passing score threshold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMA (AAMA) | American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) | 69 percent | July 2024 through April 2025 | Scaled score of 405 on a 200 to 800 scale |
| NHA CCMA | National Healthcareer Association (NHA) | 81.38 percent | January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 | Scaled score of 390 on a 200 to 500 scale |
| AMT RMA | American Medical Technologists (AMT) | 70 percent | January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 | Scaled score of 70 on a 0 to 100 scale |
Credential-Stacking in Action: Mildred Elley's CCMA, CPT, and CET Results
Most medical assistant programs anchor outcomes to one certification exam. A smaller set intentionally stacks several NHA credentials into the same curriculum, and that distinction shows up clearly in Mildred Elley College's reported results.
A Closer Look at the Reported Rates
According to a Des Moines Register press release covering calendar years 2024 through 2026, Mildred Elley students posted a 98% pass rate on the NHA CCMA exam (2026), 94% on the CPT exam (2024), and 91% on the CET exam (2024).1 Both the Medical Assistant A.O.S. degree and the Clinical Medical Assistant certificate at Mildred Elley incorporate preparation for all three NHA credentials.2
Context matters. NHA's calendar-year national pass rates for CPT ranged from 75.96% in 2024 to 77.44% in 2025. CET national rates were lower: 69.66% in 2024 and 70.45% in 2025. For CCMA, the latest published national benchmark is 81.73% in 2025; no 2026 national rate has been released. Mildred Elley's numbers sit above those averages, but the press release does not specify first-attempt versus multiple-attempt statistics or campus-level aggregation. Treat these figures as a directional benchmark, not a guarantee of your personal score.
Why Credential-Stacking Matters
The real signal is the stack itself. Completing one program and walking away with CCMA, CPT, and CET credentials means you have documented skills in clinical assisting, phlebotomy, and EKG capture. For employer readiness, that breadth lets you float across front-office and back-office roles. For a later medical assistant to RN path, those credentials and the clinical hours behind them can strengthen your nursing application by showing hands-on patient-care competency before you start prerequisite coursework.
Accreditation's Role in Verifying Reported Outcomes
Medical Assistant Program Accreditation is a third-party check on whether a medical assistant program has to prove what it claims. Two main bodies accredit medical assisting programs: ABHES (Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools) and CAAHEP (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs). Of the two, ABHES has the clearest current requirement for public outcomes. ABHES-accredited schools must post reliable, current outcome data through an easily identified link on the institution's homepage,1 and the data must include credentialing pass rates alongside retention and placement results.2 That data is reported annually,2 and ABHES can request additional outcomes when a program's status needs clarification.3
Why the Paper Trail Matters
Accreditation does not promise a specific pass rate. It promises that the school has an ongoing obligation to collect, report, and make outcomes visible enough for you to check. Mildred Elley illustrates the intersection: it holds ABHES programmatic accreditation and MSCHE institutional accreditation, so its reported CCMA, CPT, and CET results are tied to an accreditor's disclosure expectations, not just a marketing page.
CAAHEP Is Not Always the Same
CAAHEP's current medical assistant standards were not available in the public materials reviewed,4 so you may need to ask a CAAHEP-accredited school directly for its certification pass-rate disclosure policy. In practice, look for a homepage link to outcomes data. If it is missing or hard to find, ask why.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Is the program's accreditor one that requires outcome reporting, or one with looser disclosure standards?
Accreditors that require annual outcome reporting give you an independent baseline, not just a marketing snapshot. A looser accreditor may allow selective or absent disclosure, making it harder to tell whether a pass rate is representative or cherry-picked.
Have I checked the accreditor's own program directory rather than trusting a badge on the school's homepage?
Accreditor directories list current status, scope, and sometimes historical actions. A homepage badge can be outdated or misleading, while the official directory shows whether the program itself, not just the institution, holds approval.
Does the school's marketing distinguish institutional accreditation from programmatic accreditation?
Institutional accreditation covers the whole college, but programmatic accreditation such as ABHES focuses on health career training. Schools sometimes emphasize the broader seal, so confirm the specific medical assistant program carries the appropriate programmatic approval.
If the program advertises a high pass rate, can I verify which exam, cohort, and year it covers?
A 98 percent CCMA pass rate from one small graduating class is not the same as a multiyear average. Ask for the denominator and time frame so the claim is not a one-time outlier presented as typical.
Questions to Ask Admissions Reps About Exam Outcomes
A few pointed questions can separate verified exam outcomes from marketing language.
- What is the first-time pass rate for the exact credential I need?Ask for CCMA, CMA, or RMA separately rather than a blended figure across exams.
- What reporting window and cohort size does that rate cover?A high rate matters more if it reflects a sizable group over a clear, recent period.
- Does the rate include all program completers or only students who sat for the exam?Ask which denominator was used; excluding non-testers can inflate the result.
- What is the job placement rate, and how do you define 'placement'?Keep it separate from pass rates and ask whether part-time or non-clinical roles count.
- How does your rate compare to the national average, and from what source?Ask the program to name the certifying body or benchmark behind any comparison.
Pass Rate vs Job Placement Rate: Which Matters More
More programs now chase certification exam metrics, but hiring managers care just as much about whether graduates actually land a medical assistant job with no experience. A pass rate tells you how well a program prepares students for one test. A job placement rate tells you how well those same graduates navigate hiring, references, and the first days on the job. Those are different questions: will I pass the exam, versus will I get hired afterward.
Two numbers answer different questions
Pass rate measures exam readiness. Placement rate measures employment outcomes. Treating them as interchangeable is a common mistake. A school can report a high CCMA pass rate while its graduates struggle to get interviews because the program skipped hands-on skills, medical assistant on the job training, or resume help.
Ask how placement is defined
Schools do not calculate job placement the same way. Some count unpaid externships, part-time roles, or any healthcare-adjacent job, not just medical assistant employment. A 90 percent placement figure may include graduates working as front desk staff, patient transporters, or in unrelated entry-level roles. Before comparing programs, ask: does this rate count only paid, full-time medical assisting jobs, and what time frame after graduation?
Use the metric that matches your goal
If your next step is medical assistant to RN, weigh pass rate more heavily. If your main goal is fast employment, give placement data more weight, but ask for the definition. Most applicants should request both figures and read them together. A strong program should be able to explain its exam outcomes and where its graduates actually work.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Am I choosing this program to pass a specific certification exam or to land a job as quickly as possible?
A high pass rate shows exam readiness, but if your priority is a paycheck, strong employer ties may matter more than a few percentage points on one test. Clarify which outcome actually changes your next step.
Does the program's job placement definition include unpaid externships or short-term positions?
Some schools count unpaid clinical rotations as placement, which can inflate the headline number. Ask whether "placed" means a paid medical assistant job that lasted at least a few months, not just any training site.
Would a slightly lower pass rate matter less if the placement rate and employer partnerships are strong?
A program that sends graduates into stable MA roles may still be a smart choice even if its exam pass rate is a bit below a competitor's. Look for employer feedback, externship-to-hire patterns, and local demand.
Red Flags When a Program Won't Share Outcome Data
A program that publishes a pass rate with cohort size, exam name, and testing window is telling you how to verify it. A program that answers "What is your CCMA pass rate?" with "Our students do very well" is telling you something else.
What "We have great outcomes" really means
When a school refuses to put exam results in writing, treat that as a red flag. Marketing language like "strong success" or "competitive performance" is not a pass rate. Ask for a written figure tied to a specific certification exam, such as the CCMA, and a defined testing period.
The missing pieces to watch for
A pass rate without a sample size can hide a tiny cohort. A claim without the exam type can blend an easier in-house test with the credential you actually need. And if the school's medical assistant program accreditation cannot be confirmed independently against ABHES or a recognized regional agency, the reported number is weaker still.
First-time or cumulative? Ask before you enroll
Programs sometimes cite a cumulative pass rate, which includes students who retook the exam, without saying so. A first-try pass rate is more useful for judging exam readiness. If the school will not clarify which measure it uses, that omission is deliberate.
Compare an evasive program with accredited peers that publish their full methodology. If the only data you can get is a verbal assurance, keep looking before you enroll. A school that is proud of its outcomes will usually hand you the worksheet before you ask. Treat evasiveness as data.
Trust written methodology over a recruiter's tone.
