Both are fully online, both prepare you for the NHA’s CCMA exam, and both take complete beginners. We compared them on price, the credential you walk away with, clinical hours, and what happens after you pass.
The winner
Preppy wins on every category we scored except two.
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Reveal the code and open Preppy — it applies at checkout on either payment option.
CCMA exam fee is not included in Preppy tuition — budget for it separately.
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The Verdict on Medical Assistant Training
Six categories decide which medical assistant program is the better buy. Preppy takes four, MedCerts takes two, and the four Preppy wins are the ones that determine whether your medical assistant certificate turns into a clinic job.
Final score across the six medical assistant program categories above.
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Your medical assistant certificate comes from a university
Preppy’s Medical Assistant program is delivered with Champlain College Online, a regionally accredited nonprofit. Your Certificate of Completion carries the college’s name — a credential you frame, and one that lets you tell a clinic manager you trained through a university. Regional accreditation is the same recognition state universities hold, so it needs no explaining.
MedCerts issues its own certificate for its medical assistant program. It’s a well-known training company, but that credential is only ever worth what its name means to the person reading your résumé.
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Medical assistant clinical hours are inside the price
MedCerts’ own medical assistant FAQ puts it plainly: the CCMA exam has no clinical requirement, but “some employers may require or prefer the completion of an internship or externship prior to job placement.” MedCerts offers resources to help you search for one. Preppy runs an Externship Match Program and connects you with opportunities inside its own healthcare employer network — a network you’re matched into, not a list you work through alone.
Worth knowing: Preppy gives you a choice between externship placement and direct job placement assistance, not both. Pick the externship if you have no clinical experience — it’s patient-facing hours on your résumé, a professional reference, and often the employer who hires you, since clinics hire their own externs regularly.
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Self-paced medical assistant training, no weekly hour expectation
Preppy’s medical assistant program is 100% self-paced across 3 to 6 months, with a full year of access. No weekly minimum, nothing to show up for. MedCerts’ 28 weeks assumes 15 to 20 hours a week — a commitment to plan your life around.
Most people training to become a medical assistant already have a job. If you can give it twenty hours one week and four the next, self-paced is the difference between finishing and quitting. Push hard and you beat six months; have a bad month and nothing is lost.
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Medical assistant job assistance and a 30-day guarantee, both included
Preppy includes a career platform where healthcare employers post medical assistant roles, plus résumé support and 24/7 course advisors — in the tuition, not as an upsell. MedCerts offers career support too; Preppy’s edge is that it comes alongside externship placement rather than instead of it.
Preppy also carries a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re under 10 hours into the course. You can start the medical assistant coursework, see the real material, and walk away whole. That’s unusual in career training, and it removes most of the risk of deciding today.
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MedCerts covers your CCMA exam fee. Preppy doesn’t.
Every MedCerts exam is paid for inside tuition. With Preppy you register and pay the NHA directly. Worth knowing: the NHA does not publish the CCMA fee anywhere — payment is taken when you schedule. Budget for it either way; Preppy still comes in about $2,100 lower on tuition.
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MedCerts preps two medical assistant certifications, Preppy preps one.
MedCerts readies you for the CCMA and the CMAA, the administrative credential, and pays for both exams. If you want both on your résumé that is real added value. Most clinical medical assistant roles ask for the CCMA alone.
Preppy wins the medical assistant package, not just the price
It would be easy to read this as a price comparison. It isn’t. Preppy is cheaper — $1,899 against $4,000 — but the reason it wins is what the $1,899 buys alongside the medical assistant coursework: a certificate issued by a regionally accredited nonprofit university, a match into its clinical employer network, a schedule that bends around your job, and a refund window if you change your mind. Those are the things that decide whether a medical assistant certificate becomes a job offer.
Where MedCerts earns its price: it preps the CMAA administrative certification alongside the CCMA and pays for both exams, and it runs a 51-week medical assistant apprenticeship with 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training that beats either program on cost if you qualify for it.
What each Medical Assistant program actually costs
Published tuition, with the exam fee added where it isn’t already included, so both columns mean the same thing.
Photo: student studying online
The comparison
MedCerts charges one flat $4,000 with every exam fee inside it. Preppy charges $1,899 and leaves the CCMA fee to you — a fee the NHA does not publish.
Neither qualifies for federal financial aid. Both offer interest-free monthly plans — Preppy at $349 × 6, MedCerts from about $346/mo.
The OnlineDegree.com reader discount is applied by Preppy at checkout and is not counted in this math, so the real gap is wider.
Total to certified
- MedCerts tuition (exams included)
- $4,000
- Preppy tuition, paid in full
- $1,899
- CCMA exam fee, paid to the NHA
- not published
- You could save choosing Preppy
- $2,101
Published tuition as of October 2026. Preppy does not include the CCMA exam fee; the NHA does not publish that fee and takes payment when you schedule. For scale, the NHA store lists its other allied-health exam applications — CPT, CET, CMAA, CEHRS and CBCS — at $134 each. Excludes scrubs and any background check an externship site requires.
Key facts about becoming a Medical Assistant
Photo: medical assistant at work
On published tuition. MedCerts includes exam fees; Preppy bills the CCMA separately.
Fully self-paced. MedCerts estimates 28 weeks at 15–20 hours a week.
Students search for their own site. Preppy matches you into its employer network.
Provided total time in the course stays under 10 hours.
- Both programs prepare you for the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam from the National Healthcareer Association, the credential most employers ask for.
- MedCerts also prepares you for the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) exam, and covers the cost of both. The NHA store lists a CMAA exam application at $134.
- Preppy’s certificate is issued by Champlain College Online, a regionally accredited nonprofit institution. MedCerts issues its own credential.
- Neither program requires prior healthcare experience. A high school diploma or GED is the only admission requirement at both.
- Preppy students choose between externship placement and job placement assistance, both included in tuition. The MedCerts medical assistant program includes neither — it offers resources to help students search for an externship themselves.
- MedCerts also runs a 51-week Registered Apprenticeship that includes 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training — a different product from the program compared here, and worth looking at if you qualify.
Facts verified October 5, 2026 against the sources at the bottom of this page.
Side-by-side Medical Assistant comparison
| Category | Preppy | MedCerts |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $1,899 or $349 × 6 | $4,000, plans from ~$346/mo |
| Length | 3–6 months, fully self-paced | 28 weeks at 15–20 hrs/week |
| Certificate issued by | Champlain College Online regionally accredited nonprofit | MedCerts — no university partner |
| Exam prepared for | CCMA (NHA) | CCMA + CMAA (NHA) |
| Exam fee | Not included paid to the NHA; fee not published | Included |
| Externship | Included Externship Match Program; choose externship or job placement | Not included resources to help you search for one; no placement |
| Job support | More complete Employer job board, résumé support, interview prep, 24/7 advisors — plus externship placement, so career help and clinical hours come together | Career Center and coaches for 1 year, résumé and interview support — but no externship placement in this program |
| Refund policy | 30 days if under 10 hrs in course | See enrollment agreement |
| Admission requirements | HS diploma or GED | HS diploma or GED |
| Price published online | Yes | Yes |
| State availability | All states except CT, GA and WA | All states except Washington |
Verified October 5, 2026 against each provider’s own program and FAQ pages, linked below. Terms change; confirm before you enroll.
How to enroll with Preppy
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1Reveal your code and open Preppy
The code applies at checkout on either payment option. No application, no prerequisites, no sales call.
—— $150 off coupon code copied · Preppy opened in a new tab -
2Work the coursework at your pace
Anatomy and medical terminology first, then the clinical skills: vital signs, phlebotomy, EKG, infection control, plus charting, scheduling and HIPAA.
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3Register for the CCMA and sit it
You book directly with the NHA, not through your program. Take the practice exams until you’re consistently passing, then schedule. The fee is paid separately, at scheduling.
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4Do your externship, then apply
Clear your balance and finish the program, and a Preppy externship coordinator helps arrange placement. Externship sites hire their own externs often enough that it’s worth asking directly.
Preppy vs MedCerts: Medical Assistant questions
Is Preppy or MedCerts better for becoming a medical assistant?
Preppy, for most people. It costs $1,899 against MedCerts’ $4,000, issues a Certificate of Completion from Champlain College Online rather than a company-issued credential, and includes externship or job placement support that MedCerts’ base program doesn’t have. MedCerts is the better pick if you want the CMAA certification as well as the CCMA, or if someone else is paying.
Does the MedCerts medical assistant program include an externship?
No. MedCerts’ medical assistant FAQ states that the CCMA exam has no clinical requirement, and that while some employers may require or prefer an externship, MedCerts provides resources to help students search for those opportunities — the program does not place you. Preppy runs an Externship Match Program that connects students with opportunities inside its healthcare employer network, and every student chooses between externship placement and job placement assistance at no extra cost. MedCerts does run a separate 51-week Registered Apprenticeship with 2,000 paid on-the-job hours, which is a different product.
Do Preppy and MedCerts prepare you for the same medical assistant certification?
Both prepare you for the CCMA from the National Healthcareer Association, which is the credential most employers ask for. MedCerts also preps the CMAA, the administrative counterpart. Neither qualifies you for the CMA exam from the AAMA, which requires graduating a CAAHEP- or ABHES-accredited program.
Is the CCMA exam fee included in Preppy or MedCerts medical assistant tuition?
MedCerts covers all exam fees inside its medical assistant tuition. Preppy does not, so you pay the NHA directly when you schedule. The NHA does not publish the CCMA fee; for scale, its store lists CPT, CET, CMAA, CEHRS and CBCS exam applications at $134 each. Either way Preppy comes in about $2,100 lower on tuition alone.
How long does each medical assistant program take, Preppy or MedCerts?
MedCerts estimates 28 weeks for its medical assistant program at 15 to 20 hours a week. Preppy’s medical assistant program runs 3 to 6 months and is fully self-paced with no weekly hour expectation, so motivated students finish faster and people juggling a job can take longer without penalty.
Can you get financial aid for the Preppy or MedCerts medical assistant program?
Neither medical assistant program qualifies for federal student aid, since that generally requires an accredited degree or certificate program. What often does apply to both: WIOA workforce grants, MyCAA for military spouses, and employer tuition reimbursement. Both also offer interest-free monthly plans, which is the better route than a private loan for a program this size.
Is Preppy’s Champlain College Online medical assistant certificate the same as a degree?
No. It’s a Certificate of Completion for a continuing education medical assistant program, not a degree, and it doesn’t carry college credit on its own. What it does carry is the name of a regionally accredited nonprofit university rather than a training vendor’s, which is what makes it recognizable to healthcare employers.
Is Preppy cheaper than MedCerts for medical assistant training?
Yes. Preppy’s Medical Assistant program is $1,899 paid in full, or $349 a month for six months. MedCerts is $4,000. That is $2,101 less on published tuition for the same CCMA certification. MedCerts includes exam fees and Preppy does not, so add the NHA’s CCMA fee to Preppy’s side — a fee the NHA does not publish.
Is the MedCerts medical assistant program accredited?
MedCerts is not a university and does not issue a university credential; it is a training provider whose programs prepare students for third-party certification exams such as the NHA’s CCMA and CMAA. Preppy’s Medical Assistant program is delivered in partnership with Champlain College Online, a regionally accredited nonprofit institution that issues the Certificate of Completion. Neither program is CAAHEP- or ABHES-accredited.
Which medical assistant program is faster, Preppy or MedCerts?
Preppy, in practice. MedCerts quotes 28 weeks based on 15 to 20 hours of coursework a week. Preppy is self-paced over 3 to 6 months with no weekly hour requirement, so students who can study intensively finish sooner, and students with unpredictable schedules can take up to a full year of access without penalty.
Does Preppy include job placement for medical assistant graduates?
Preppy includes career support in tuition: a career platform where healthcare employers post medical assistant roles, résumé feedback, interview preparation, and 24/7 course advisors. Students also choose between externship placement support and direct job placement assistance. Employment is not guaranteed by either provider.
Is Preppy’s medical assistant program legit?
Preppy is a StraighterLine company that partners with accredited nonprofit universities to deliver its certification training. The Medical Assistant program is offered with Champlain College Online and is designed to prepare students for the NHA’s CCMA exam. It carries a 30-day money-back guarantee for students with under 10 hours in the course.
What certification do you need to work as a medical assistant?
No state requires a license to work as a medical assistant, but most employers ask for a national certification. The most common is the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) from the National Healthcareer Association. Both Preppy and MedCerts prepare you for it. The CMA credential from the AAMA is the exception — it requires graduating from a CAAHEP- or ABHES-accredited program, which online training providers are not.
Are there cheaper alternatives to MedCerts for medical assistant training?
Yes. Preppy at $1,899 is the lowest-priced option we’ve found that includes a certificate issued by a regionally accredited nonprofit university along with externship and career support. Stepful runs $1,799 to $2,399 with live cohort classes, and some providers go below $1,000 but issue their own certificate and leave clinical hours to you.
Sources and verification
Checked October 5, 2026. We re-verify monthly.