| Type | Campus-based health career school; Ohio nursing is hybrid, and some programs are fully online |
|---|---|
| Campuses | 43 in 8 states (MI 19, OH 7, IN 7, KY 4, TN 2, WV 2, AL 1, IA 1) |
| Institutions | Ross Medical Education Center (most campuses) and Ross College (6 campuses, 3 satellite centers and the online programs) |
| Credentials | Diplomas; associate degrees (AAS) in nursing, veterinary technology, occupational therapy assisting and several online fields |
| Program length | Most diplomas 30–36 weeks; practical nursing 48 weeks; nursing, OTA and vet tech degrees 92–96 weeks; nursing assistant 2–4 weeks |
| Accreditation | ABHES (institutional); program approvals and accreditations listed below |
| Federal aid | Yes; also GI Bill, MyCAA and WIOA |
| Owner | Ross Education Holdings, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit since 2021, Clinton Township, MI; approved as a nonprofit for federal aid in July 2026. Founded 1969 in Michigan |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
About Ross Education
Ross was founded in Michigan in 1969 and now runs 43 campus locations in eight states, most of which teach only medical and dental assisting. It operates as two ABHES-accredited institutions: Ross Medical Education Center, which runs most campuses, and Ross College, which runs six campuses, three satellite centers and the online programs, and delivers the online lectures for the hybrid Ohio nursing programs.
The big recent change is ownership. Ross was owned by JLL Partners from 2011 until 2021, when its parent became a Michigan nonprofit. In July 2026 the U.S. Department of Education approved all Ross campuses as private nonprofit institutions for federal aid purposes, completing a conversion Ross began in 2019. Ross is not connected to Ross University’s medical and veterinary schools.
Programs and where they are taught
Medical assisting is the only program taught everywhere. Nursing and veterinary technology are taught only in Ohio, occupational therapy assisting only in Kentucky (Iowa is in teach-out), and nursing assistant training only in Michigan. Tuition below is from Ross’s 2023–24 cost-of-attendance page, the latest we could check.
| Program | Credential | Length | Where | Prepares for | 2023–24 tuition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Assistant | Diploma | 30 weeks day, 36 evening, incl. 6-week externship | All 43 campuses | RMA (AMT); Ross reimburses the fee | $15,990 + $307 tech fee |
| Dental Assistant | Diploma | 36 weeks (30 day at Cincinnati), incl. 6-week externship | Most campuses in 7 states (not Iowa) | DANB ICE and RHS; Ohio radiography certificate in Ohio | $15,990 + $307 |
| Veterinary Assistant | Diploma | 36 weeks, incl. 6-week externship | Huntsville AL, Erlanger KY, Canton, New Baltimore, Portage and Warren MI, North Canton OH | NAVTA Approved Veterinary Assistant (Ross pays) | $14,200 + $307 |
| Nursing Assistant | Training course | 2–4 weeks | Brighton, Grand Rapids, Midland, Portage (MI) | Michigan nurse aide exam (Prometric) | – |
| Practical Nursing | Diploma | 48 weeks, 398 clinical hours | 6 Ohio campuses (hybrid) | NCLEX-PN | $19,562 |
| Nursing (RN) | AAS | 96 weeks for non-LPNs, 315 clinical hours | 6 Ohio campuses (hybrid) | NCLEX-RN; provisional Ohio BON approval (see below) | $15,120 + $775 books* |
| Veterinary Technology | AAS | 96 weeks, 3+ month externship | North Canton, OH | VTNE | – |
| Occupational Therapy Assistant | AAS | 92 weeks, incl. two 8-week fieldwork rotations | Hopkinsville, KY (Quad Cities, IA in teach-out) | NBCOT COTA (first attempt paid); ACOTE probation | $14,796 + $475 books* |
| Pharmacy Technician | Certificate or diploma | 36 weeks, incl. 6-week externship | Online (Ross College Sylvania) | PTCB (voucher) | $15,990 + $150 tech fee + $475 books |
| Medical Insurance Billing & Office Administration | Diploma | 30 weeks, incl. 5-week externship | Online | NHA CBCS (fee reimbursed) | $15,990 + $150 + $475 |
| Medical Office Administration | Diploma | – | Online | – | $9,600 + $150 + $475 |
| Health Care Administration; Medical Billing Administrative Specialist | AAS | – | Online | – | $8,500 + $103 + $475 |
| Medical Assistant (degree) | AAS | 40 weeks at Grand Rapids; online version also offered | Grand Rapids, MI; online | – | $8,610 + $198 + $475 (online) |
*Ross’s page doesn’t say whether these figures cover the whole degree or one year of it.
Ross College Hopkinsville also offers business management, and Ross’s program index also lists an online Human, Social & Health Services AAS.
What the main programs cover
Medical Assistant
Six classroom modules mix front-office and clinical work: an office lab, phlebotomy and hematology, injections, billing and coding, and cardiopulmonary procedures including EKG. Students then complete a six-week externship. Day students finish in 30 weeks; evening students take 36, with the same hours and credits as the day shift. Applicants must be 18 by the time the externship begins. Graduates can sit American Medical Technologists’ Registered Medical Assistant exam, and Ross reimburses the fee.
Dental Assistant
The 36-week diploma (30 weeks on Cincinnati’s day schedule) has six modules taught in day or evening classes, followed by six weeks in a dental office. What the course prepares students for depends on the state: outside Ohio, students work toward DANB’s Infection Control and Radiation Health and Safety exams, while Ohio students work toward the state’s dental assistant radiography certificate. Students should ask which credential exams are included at their campus.
Veterinary Assistant
This 36-week diploma has six modules and a six-week externship. All the campuses teaching it hold NAVTA approval, and students take NAVTA’s Approved Veterinary Assistant exam on campus at Ross’s expense. At some Michigan campuses part of the program is delivered in a hybrid format with Ross College North Canton. An approved veterinary assistant is not a credentialed veterinary technician; in Ross’s system that takes the separate 96-week Ohio degree and the VTNE.
Practical Nursing and Nursing (RN) in Ohio
Both nursing programs are hybrid. Lectures are delivered online from Ross College North Canton, while skills labs run at the six Ohio campuses and clinical rotations at local healthcare facilities. Practical nursing has 12 classes over 48 weeks, with 398 clinical contact hours, and leads to the NCLEX-PN. The RN associate degree has 24 classes over 96 weeks for students who are not already LPNs, with 315 clinical contact hours, and leads to the NCLEX-RN.
Veterinary Technology
Taught only at North Canton, this 96-week associate degree has 24 courses and ends in an externship of three months or more. Students must have pre-exposure rabies vaccination. Ross states that the program holds full AVMA accreditation, and it prepares graduates for the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE). First-time VTNE results have been weak: 48.28% of 29 candidates passed from January 2023 to December 2025.
Occupational Therapy Assistant
The 92-week associate degree, now enrolling only at Hopkinsville, KY, combines coursework with 30 hours of Level I fieldwork and two eight-week Level II fieldwork rotations. Graduates take the NBCOT exam for the COTA credential, and Ross pays for the first attempt. Ross reported graduation rates for 2022–2024 of 88% at Hopkinsville (29 students) and 73% at Quad Cities (11), which no longer enrolls OTA students. It does not publish an NBCOT pass rate.
Cost and paying for it
Ross’s most recent cost-of-attendance page we could read is for 2023–24. It listed tuition of $15,990 for medical assisting, dental assisting, pharmacy technician and medical billing, $14,200 for veterinary assisting and $19,562 for practical nursing, plus technology fees of $103 to $307 and $475 for books on online programs. Ross says it has not raised tuition since 2019, but its 2026–27 tuition table wasn’t available to us, so confirm current prices with admissions. On Niche, which uses federal data, average net price per year ranges from about $19,000 (Flint, Lansing, Taylor) to $28,128 at Ross College North Canton.
Ross takes federal student aid, GI Bill benefits, MyCAA funding for military spouses and WIOA workforce funding. Its 2026–27 catalog lists institutional grants including an Active Military and Spouse Grant, a Recent High School Graduate Grant, a Financial Hardship Grant, a Foster Care Grant and alumni grants. Ross also pays or reimburses several certification exam fees (RMA, CBCS, PTCB, NAVTA and the first NBCOT attempt).
Admissions and schedule
Applicants need a high school diploma or a recognized equivalent such as the GED, and must be 18 by the start of their externship. Some programs require the Accuplacer Next-Generation test in reading, writing and arithmetic, with minimum scores set by program. Veterinary technology students need rabies pre-exposure vaccination. Classes run on day, afternoon and evening schedules with the same hours and credits on each shift; medical assisting takes 30 weeks by day and 36 in the evening.
Accreditation, approvals and results
All Ross campuses are institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). Program-level status varies:
- Nursing (RN): the Ohio Board of Nursing has given the program only provisional approval since March 2021 because of low NCLEX results. In May 2025 the board issued a notice proposing to withdraw provisional approval and deny full approval; we could not confirm the outcome. Ross reports a 93.75% licensure pass rate for 2025. The program has no ACEN accreditation.
- Practical nursing: Ross states it has full Ohio Board of Nursing approval at North Canton and Sylvania, and reports a 91.78% NCLEX-PN pass rate for 2025.
- Occupational therapy assistant: on probationary accreditation with ACOTE since 23 March 2024. ACOTE’s December 2025 disclosure says the program was still out of compliance on the exam pass-rate standard and five other standards.
- Veterinary technology: Ross states it has full AVMA accreditation (older pages, including ours, said probationary). The three-year first-time VTNE pass rate was 48.28% (29 candidates, 2023–2025).
- Veterinary assistant: NAVTA-approved at every campus teaching it. NAVTA approves programs; it is not an accreditor.
- Pharmacy technician: Ross states the online program at Sylvania is ASHP/ACPE-accredited.
At the institution level, Niche shows federal figures for Ross College North Canton of a 46% graduation rate, 94% employed after one year and median earnings of $30,902 after five years; these cover all programs, not one course. Ross is not on the Sweet v. Cardona borrower-defense settlement list.
Externships and career help
Every diploma program ends in an externship of five to six weeks, the veterinary technology degree in one of three months or more, and the OTA degree in two eight-week fieldwork rotations. Ross says it arranges pharmacy technician externship sites; for other programs, ask how placements are found and how far you may need to travel. Ross has no student housing.
Before you enroll
- If you want to become an RN, check the Ohio Board of Nursing’s current status for Ross College’s program first: approval has been provisional since 2021, and in May 2025 the board proposed withdrawing it and denying full approval.
- The OTA degree is on accreditor probation, and the Quad Cities campus no longer enrolls OTA students. Ask for the program’s latest ACOTE status and NBCOT results.
- Fewer than half of North Canton’s veterinary technology candidates passed the VTNE on their first try in 2023–2025.
- Ross’s Tennessee disclosure warns that its credits may not transfer to other colleges. Ask any school you may transfer to later whether it accepts Ross credits.
- Most campuses teach only medical and dental assisting. Older listings, including earlier versions of this page, showed nursing and therapy programs at campuses such as Knoxville that don’t offer them.
What students say
We found no review platform with 25 or more reviews of Ross (checked October 2026), so we don’t summarize reviews or give a rating. Niche has a separate page for each campus; the largest we found, Brighton, had 21 reviews, and Ross has no reviews on Trustpilot.
Sources
Ross campus locations · 2026–27 Ross Education catalog · Accreditation · Cost of attendance 2023–24 · Consumer information · Muncie Journal on the nonprofit conversion · Ohio Board of Nursing RN program list (Aug 2025) · ACOTE disclosure, Ross College OTA (Dec 2025)
Programs & Courses
Medical and Dental
- Medical Assistant (all campuses)
- Medical Assistant Specialist AAS (Grand Rapids, MI)
- Dental Assistant
- Nursing Assistant (Brighton, Grand Rapids, Midland and Portage, MI)
Nursing (Ohio, hybrid)
- Practical Nursing (diploma)
- Nursing (AAS, RN)
Veterinary
- Veterinary Assistant
- Veterinary Technology AAS (North Canton, OH)
Therapy and Business
- Occupational Therapy Assistant AAS (Hopkinsville, KY)
- Business Management (Hopkinsville, KY)
Online (Ross College)
- Pharmacy Technician
- Medical Insurance Billing & Office Administration
- Medical Office Administration
- Medical Assistant AAS
- Health Care Administration AAS
- Medical Billing Administrative Specialist AAS
- Human, Social & Health Services AAS
Campus Locations
Huntsville, AL 930 Old Monrovia Rd NW, Ste 9, Huntsville, AL 35806
Davenport, IA 1801 E Kimberly Rd, Ste B, Davenport, IA 52807
Evansville, IN 227 N Green River Rd, Evansville, IN 47715
Fort Wayne, IN 4122 Lima Rd, Ste B17, Fort Wayne, IN 46805
Kokomo, IN 196 E Southway Blvd, Kokomo, IN 46902
Lafayette, IN 2621 Maple Point Dr, Lafayette, IN 47905
Merrillville, IN 500 W Lincoln Hwy, Ste A, Merrillville, IN 46410
Muncie, IN 411 W Riggin Rd, Muncie, IN 47303
Mishawaka, IN 4110 Grape Rd, Ste C, Mishawaka, IN 46545
Bowling Green, KY 1724 Rockingham Ave, Ste 102, Bowling Green, KY 42104
Erlanger, KY 600 Rodeo Dr, Ste 2, Erlanger, KY 41018
Hopkinsville, KY 4001 Fort Campbell Blvd, Hopkinsville, KY 42240
Owensboro, KY 410 Southtown Blvd, Ste 6, Owensboro, KY 42303
Ann Arbor, MI 4687 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Battle Creek, MI 3600 Capital Ave SW, Ste 104, Battle Creek, MI 49015
Benton Harbor, MI 1972 Pipestone Rd, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Brighton, MI 8110 Murphy Dr, Brighton, MI 48116
Canton, MI 44958 Ford Rd, Canton, MI 48187
Davison, MI 815 S State St, Davison, MI 48423
Flint, MI G3630 Miller Rd, Ste D, Flint, MI 48507
Grand Rapids, MI 3488 Plainfield Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Jackson, MI 113 W Michigan Ave, 2nd Floor, Jackson, MI 49201
Portage, MI 6235 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002
Kentwood, MI 4528 Breton Rd SE, Kentwood, MI 49508
Lansing, MI 4106 W Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917
Midland, MI 2600 N Saginaw Rd, Ste B, Midland, MI 48640
Roosevelt Park, MI 950 W Norton Ave, Ste D, Roosevelt Park, MI 49441
New Baltimore, MI 51133 Birch St, Ste 100, New Baltimore, MI 48047
Port Huron, MI 2887 Krafft Rd, Ste 700, Port Huron, MI 48060
Saginaw, MI 4300 Fashion Square Blvd, Ste 202, Saginaw, MI 48603
Taylor, MI 22311 Eureka Rd, Taylor, MI 48180
Warren, MI 4237 E 12 Mile Rd, Warren, MI 48092
Canton, OH 4300 Munson St NW, Canton, OH 44718
Cincinnati, OH 11590 Century Blvd, Ste 210, Cincinnati, OH 45246
Fairborn, OH 1890 Commerce Center Blvd, Ste 100, Fairborn, OH 45324
Elyria, OH 120 Market Dr, Elyria, OH 44035
Ontario, OH 2150 W 4th St, Ontario, OH 44906
Niles, OH 5555 Youngstown-Warren Rd, Ste 909, Niles, OH 44446
Sylvania, OH 5834 Monroe St, Ste F-K, Sylvania, OH 43560
Johnson City, TN 3021 E Oakland Ave, Johnson City, TN 37601
Knoxville, TN 206 N Seven Oaks Dr, Knoxville, TN 37922
Charleston, WV 5707 MacCorkle Ave SE, Ste 20, Charleston, WV 25304
Morgantown, WV 1474 Earl L. Core Rd, Morgantown, WV 26505