Medical Office Administration

Types of Degrees Medical Office Administration Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medical office management/administration graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	1,537
Associate Degree	1,336
Undergraduate Certificate	670
Bachelor’s Degree	12

What Medical Office Administration Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, medical office management/administration majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medical Office Management/Administration Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in medical office management/administration should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Medical Office Management/Administration Majors

medical office management/administration majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Abilities for Medical Office Management/Administration Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a medical office management/administration student include the following:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Medical Office Administration Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with medical office management/administration:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	3.4%	$55,810

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Medical Office Administration?

This major is dominated by women with about 96% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medical office management/administration majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	19
Black or African American	405
Hispanic or Latino	190
White	618
International Students	24
Other Races/Ethnicities	80

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Medical Office Management/Administration, too. About 1.8% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Medical Office Administration Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Medical Office Management/Administration majors often go into careers with median salaries of $59,340. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Medical Office Administration

Some degrees associated with medical office management/administration may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to medical office management/administration have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	23.3%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.6%
Some College Courses	20.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	45.5%
Master’s Degree	1.3%

Online Medical Office Administration Programs

In 2020-2021, 154 schools offered a medical office management/administration program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	76	25
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	125	44
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Medical Office Administration Worth It?

The median salary for a medical office management/administration grad is $59,340 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 49% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $388,800 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Medical Office Administration

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medical office management/administration.

Major	Number of Grads
Health Care Management	16,886
Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder	10,149
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	9,623
Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller	8,186
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant & Medical Secretary	8,049
Medical Office Assistant/Specialist	4,893
Hospital & Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,088
Health Information Management	2,688
Other Health & Medical Administrative Services	1,870
Medical/Health Management & Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,176
Medical Reception/Receptionist	781
Long Term Care Administration/Management	275
Medical Office Computer Specialist/Assistant	224
Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist	198
Clinical Research Coordinator	127
Health Unit Coordinator/Ward Clerk	94
Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician	23
Health Unit Manager/Ward Supervisor	20
Health/Medical Claims Examiner	15
Disease Registry Data Management	8

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.