Groundbreaking Healthcare Training Provider Launches 48 Week Associate Degree in Medical Assisting, Breaking the Mold on the Two-Year Associate Degree

The College of Health Care Professions unveils new accelerated Medical Assistant Associate designed for learners to complete full 61.5 credits in under a year.

HOUSTON, August 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP) today announced the launch of an accelerated Medical Assistant Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree, which will be available at its McAllen (MCA) and Houston Southwest (HSW) campuses. The Accelerated AAS is a full, credit-bearing associate degree, designed to be completed in 48 weeks.

Associate degrees typically take students two years or more to complete, with the average time nationally at two-year colleges being 3.3 years, with less than 5% of students completing their degree in two years. CHCP's Medical Assistant AAS compresses that timeline by roughly 75%, without cutting any credits or skills needed to be successful. The program still delivers the full 61.5 semester credits and 1,216 clock hours associated with a traditional AAS, including three full semesters of progressive clinical coursework and a 160-hour supervised externship. What's different isn't the substance of the degree, but the sequencing. Every course, clinical rotation, and certification-prep module is deliberately mapped so that no time is wasted between enrollment and employment.

"Most accelerated programs shorten programs by cutting credit hours or valuable clinical time," said Eric Bing, Chancellor and CEO of CHCP. "We built this degree to prove you don't have to make that trade-off. This is the same rigorous associate degree a student would receive in two years, delivered in 48 weeks because we engineered the calendar around the student, not the other way around. It is a program our students and employers have been asking us to develop."

The program is designed to help meet the growing demand for Medical Assistants, who are playing a growing, broader duty-based role in the health workforce that is facing a 4.6 million-worker shortfall. While other institutions have accelerated training by trimming curricula into shorter, narrower certificates, CHCP's model keeps the full scope and credit weight of an associate degree intact, highlighting that working adults don't need a lesser credential to move faster; they need a better-designed pathway.

"Medical assistants are the hearts and hands of our clinic. They help our patients along their journey towards living healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives," said Molly Huynh, Human Resources Coordinator, Hope Clinic. "CHCP has been a wonderful resource in cultivating future healthcare professionals, and we look forward to seeing these professionals in the field."

"We have proudly partnered with CHCP for several years and have consistently received tremendous support in meeting our Medical Assistant staffing needs," said Ram K Gyawali, Manager, Human Resources, Ibn Sina Foundation (Avicenna Clínicas). "CHCP's Medical Assistant program provides students with a strong foundation in clinical and administrative skills, patient care, professionalism, and workplace readiness. The graduates we have hired demonstrate a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, and a genuine commitment to serving patients and supporting healthcare teams."

The program's blended delivery model combines online and classroom instruction with hands-on clinical training. It is designed specifically for adult learners balancing work and family responsibilities, allowing them to complete a degree of genuine labor market value without stepping away from the jobs and households that depend on them. An embedded certification-prep course ensures graduates are ready to sit for national or state certification exams the moment they finish, and the built-in 160-hour externship gives students direct exposure to employer networks before they even graduate.

"Every institution talks about meeting learners where they are," said Dr. Joanitt Montano, Provost and Vice President of Academics at CHCP. "Very few are willing to rebuild the calendar of an entire degree to actually achieve it. That's what makes this program different. It's not a shortcut. It's a full degree, just built with zero wasted time."

The Medical Assistant AAS degree will be launched at CHCP's McAllen and Houston-Southwest campuses this fall. For more information on CHCP's programs, visit CHCP's website.

About The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP)

The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP) is the largest provider of allied health graduates in Texas, offering career-focused education across a range of healthcare disciplines. Since its founding as an internal training school for the Texas Medical Center, CHCP has grown to provide clinical training experience at more than 2,300 sites across Texas, maintaining employer advisory committees for every program to ensure curricula stay aligned with real workforce needs. CHCP's graduates have been hired by more than 5,000 employers nationwide. Learn more at www.chcp.edu.

SOURCE The College of Health Care Professions