Medical Billing and Coding major

Medical Billing and Coding: courses, careers, and where to study

Medical Billing and Coding trains you to translate diagnoses and procedures into standardized codes and to prepare and follow insurance claims for healthcare providers.

A Medical Billing and Coding program teaches you to read a clinical record and assign the correct standardized codes, working with the ICD-10-CM diagnosis set, CPT procedure codes, and HCPCS Level II codes. You study medical terminology, basic anatomy and physiology, and the documentation that supports each code, then learn to enter and check claims inside electronic health record and practice-management software. Coursework covers the claim cycle end to end: charge entry, clean-claim submission to Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial payers, reading remittance advice, and resolving denials and appeals. You also cover HIPAA privacy rules, fraud and abuse safeguards, and payer-specific edits. Where Health Information Management governs records across their full lifecycle and Health Informatics analyzes clinical data for care teams, this program centers on the coding and reimbursement workflow itself.

Most people enter through a certificate or associate program at a community college or technical school, often while working in a clinic, hospital, or billing office. Employers frequently look for a credential such as the CPC from the AAPC or the CCA or CCS from AHIMA, earned by passing a proctored exam; verify which certification a program prepares you for and whether it sits for that exam. Programs are not all the same, so check that the curriculum is current with active code sets and payer rules, since these change yearly. Work settings range from physician offices and hospitals to remote billing companies, and many roles reward accuracy, attention to payer detail, and steady continuing education. Pay, demand, and the value of a given credential vary by employer, setting, and region, and a program is preparation, not a promise of a specific job or wage.

In federal data for the closely related occupation of medical records specialists, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2024 median wage of $50,250 and projects employment to grow about 7.1% from 2024 to 2034; a postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education for that occupation. National figures are occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages or graduate outcomes.

Academic classification (CIP)

In the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, Medical Billing and Coding maps to CIP 51.0713, Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder, within the HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND RELATED PROGRAMS family. The official definition:

A program that prepares individuals to perform specialized data entry, classification, and record-keeping procedures related to medical diagnostic, treatment, billing, and insurance documentation. Includes instruction in medical records and insurance software applications, basic anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, fundamentals of medical science and treatment procedures, data classification and coding, data entry skills, and regulations relating to Medicare and insurance documentation.

Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020. View on nces.ed.gov

What credential Medical Billing and Coding is awarded as

Of the 8,307 Medical Billing and Coding credentials U.S. colleges reported conferring in 2023-24:

  • Certificate83%6,919
  • Associate17%1,385
  • Graduate<1%3

This is one of the fields where the answer genuinely depends on where you study: across the 30 states reporting it, certificates run from 44% of credentials in the 10th-percentile state to 100% in the 90th. Check the mix in your state before assuming which credential a program leads to. See the full study.

Credentials conferred in 2023-24, U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and this counts what was awarded rather than what a college currently offers.

What you'll study

  • Assigning ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes from clinical documentation and applying official coding guidelines
  • Applying CPT and HCPCS Level II codes to procedures, services, and supplies, including modifiers
  • Medical terminology, basic anatomy and physiology, and disease and treatment fundamentals
  • Working the full claim cycle: charge entry, clean-claim submission, remittance posting, and appeals
  • Billing rules for Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial payers, including coverage and medical necessity
  • Using electronic health record and practice-management software for data entry and claim scrubbing
  • HIPAA privacy and security rules, plus fraud, abuse, and compliance safeguards
  • Reading and resolving claim denials, edits, and rejections to support reimbursement
  • Preparing for certification exams such as the AAPC CPC or AHIMA CCA and CCS

Typical careers

  • Medical Coder
  • Medical Biller
  • Medical Records Specialist
  • Coding Specialist
  • Claims Processor
  • Reimbursement Specialist

Typical salary range: Early-career wages vary by employer, region, and experience (BLS, 2024 medical records specialists median $50,250).Ranges are early-career estimates. Any BLS figure shown is the occupation-wide median across all experience levels, not a starting wage, and is informational only.

Related occupations

Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Medical Billing and Coding, with what each one pays and how many openings it is projected to average each year. Ordered by projected annual openings, largest first. Linked titles open the full CampusPin career page.

Occupations associated with Medical Billing and Codingby the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, with median annual wage, projected annual openings, projected employment change, and the education most entrants typically hold.
OccupationMedian payOpenings / yrProjected changeMost entrants hold
Medical Records Specialists$50,25014,200+7.1%Postsecondary nondegree award
Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars$67,3103,200+14.7%Associate's degree

Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay, openings and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). 2 of these 2 occupations report a median wage.

“Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already working in the occupation. It is not a legal requirement, not an admission rule, and not a guarantee of entry. Studying Medical Billing and Coding does not guarantee any specific occupation, and many of these roles are entered from several different fields. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.

Before you commit to a Medical Billing and Coding major

CampusPin does not rank programs. Use these prompts to pressure-test whether a specific Medical Billing and Coding program fits your goals, they are decision questions, not claims about any school.

Ask the Medical Billing and Coding department

  • Which concentrations or specializations are offered, and which faculty lead them?
  • What does the typical course sequence look like, and how much is required vs. elective?
  • What labs, studios, clinical placements, or research opportunities are available to undergraduates?
  • Is there a capstone, thesis, internship, or co-op requirement?

Ask current students & check the curriculum

  • How heavy is the workload, and how accessible is the faculty?
  • What internships or co-ops did you do, and where do recent graduates end up?
  • Does the required curriculum actually match the careers listed above?
  • How easy is it to add a minor, double major, or switch tracks later?
Accreditation & licensure: Confirm whether a program prepares you for a recognized certification such as the AAPC CPC or the AHIMA CCA or CCS, and whether it sits students for that exam. Coding standards and payer rules change yearly, so verify that the curriculum reflects current code sets and that any credential matches the roles you want.
Degree level & graduate study: Many Medical Billing and Codingcareers are open with a bachelor's degree, but some, such as research, advanced-practice, or licensure-track roles, require a master's or doctorate. Check the typical entry-level education on each linked career page above before assuming a bachelor's is enough.

Find a Medical Billing and Coding program

CampusPin lists U.S. universities and community colleges by state, tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting, no account required.

Colleges that awarded the most Medical Billing and Coding credentials

Largest by credentials conferred in 2023-24. This measures the size of the graduating class, not quality, and it is not a ranking.

Based on credentials this institution reported conferring in the federal IPEDS completions collection for 2023-24. It confirms the field was awarded that year, not that the program currently accepts students, and it covers only the fields CampusPin tracks. Confirm current offerings with the institution.

Search Medical Billing and Coding schools

Where Medical Billing and Coding credentials were awarded

18 states have a distinct enough set of Medical Billing and Coding colleges to be worth its own page.

Search Medical Billing and Coding schools by state

Related majors

Put this major in context

The salary above is an occupation-wide median from federal data, not a starting wage or a guarantee. These CampusPin guides and reports help you read it well, see where a Medical Billing and Coding degree can lead, and weigh it against cost and program quality.

Explore Healthcare careers

Median pay, job outlook, and the occupations this field covers.

How one major leads to many careers

Why a single Medical Billing and Coding degree can open more than one path, and how to read the occupations above.

Why a median wage is not a starting salary

How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.

When accreditation and licensure matter

How program accreditation and state licensure can shape a Medical Billing and Coding path before you enroll.

Does a pricier college pay off?

How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.

Does picking a major narrow your college list?

Across the federal completions data, most fields barely change which colleges are on the table. Which ones genuinely do.

Certificate or degree?

What credential a field is usually awarded as is mostly set by the field itself, not by the state, with a short list of exceptions.

How this guide is sourced

This is an editorial guide from the CampusPin Editorial Team. Career and wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages, and link to each career page. Program availability comes from CampusPin's free institution search; CampusPin does not assert that any specific school offers this exact major until that program data is verified. Last reviewed 2026-06-15. How CampusPin sources data · Report a correction.