Planning Tool · Lists Captured October 12, 2026
Accredited Medical Assistant Program Checker
Is Your Medical Assistant Program Accredited?
Type the school's name below. 293 schools on this site have a CAAHEP-accredited medical assisting program and 16 hold ABHES programmatic accreditation, 339 programs in all. Graduates of those programs qualify for the CMA (AAMA) exam through the AAMA's standard routes; graduates of other programs may qualify through its Alternative Pathway after the AAMA approves their program.
How the Accredited Program Checker Works
On October 12, 2026, this site captured CAAHEP's list of accredited medical assisting programs and the ABHES directory of accredited programs and institutions. Each listing was matched to a school by its website domain, exact name, or city and name, with manual checks for campuses of the same chain. The checker shows the result for the school you pick, program by program, because accreditors list particular programs and credentials.
Only programmatic accreditation for medical assisting counts. A school accredited by ABHES as an institution, without its medical assisting program on the list, isn't shown as accredited here, and nothing a school says about itself changes the result.
What Accreditation Means for the CMA (AAMA) Exam
The AAMA's standard routes require a CAAHEP- or ABHES-accredited program. Students can register once all classroom coursework is done, and graduates apply as recent graduates within 12 months or as nonrecent graduates after that. Graduates of a program accredited at any time during their enrollment, or within the 36 months before it became accredited, are eligible too.
For other programs, the AAMA's Alternative Pathway applies: "The alternative pathway is for graduates of a qualified postsecondary medical assisting program or postsecondary medical assisting apprenticeship program that meets specific requirements." The program needs at least 560 academic contact hours, an externship of at least 160 hours, a diploma, certificate or associate degree, and an institution with USDE- or CHEA-recognized accreditation, and the AAMA approves the documents before you apply. The certification pathway finder checks this route and the RMA, CCMA and NCMA routes against your answers.
CAAHEP and ABHES: What Each Accreditor Covers
| Accreditor | What It Accredits | Schools on This Site |
|---|---|---|
| CAAHEP | Allied health programs, including medical assisting on MAERB's recommendation | 293 |
| ABHES | Health education institutions, and programs such as medical assisting | 16 |
Schools with a medical assisting program on each list, captured October 12, 2026. ABHES counts include programmatic accreditation only.
See every covered program on the accredited medical assistant programs page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Know if a Medical Assistant Program Is Accredited?
Look the program up in the accreditors' own directories: CAAHEP's program finder and the ABHES directory. This checker reads lists captured from both on October 12, 2026 and shows the result for the 989 schools on this site. A school's own wording isn't enough: a school can be institutionally accredited without its medical assisting program being programmatically accredited.
What Is the Difference Between CAAHEP and ABHES?
Both accredit medical assisting programs, and both count for the CMA (AAMA) exam. CAAHEP accredits programs on the recommendation of the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB) and is the more common of the two on this site (293 schools). ABHES accredits health education institutions and programs; 16 schools here hold its programmatic medical assisting accreditation.
Can I Take the CMA (AAMA) Exam if My Program Isn't Accredited?
Possibly, through the AAMA's Alternative Pathway, added for graduates of other postsecondary programs. The program must meet the AAMA's requirements, including at least 560 academic contact hours, an externship of at least 160 hours, a diploma, certificate or associate degree, and an institution accredited by a USDE- or CHEA-recognized accreditor, and the AAMA reviews and approves your documents before you apply. The RMA, CCMA and NCMA have routes of their own.
Does Accreditation Change the Cost or Length of a Program?
Not by itself. Accredited programs on this site range from short certificates to associate degrees. Accreditation tells you the program met the accreditor's standards for curriculum and the externship; compare cost and length in the program matcher.
Why Does a School Show as Accredited but One of Its Programs Doesn't?
Accreditors list specific programs and credentials. If a school's associate degree is on the CAAHEP list but its separate certificate isn't, the checker marks only the listed program as covered.
Sources
- Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), find an accredited program, captured October 12, 2026
- Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES), directory, captured October 12, 2026
- American Association of Medical Assistants, CMA (AAMA) exam eligibility, fetched October 12, 2026
- American Association of Medical Assistants, Alternative Pathway, fetched October 12, 2026