Federal data

Highest earning certificate practical nursing programs in the United States

U.S. practical nursing programs, ranked by median earnings one year after completion, from the College Scorecard field-of-study file (September 18, 2026). Only programs with at least 30 counted graduates in the earnings sample are shown, and at least 5 programs must qualify for this list to exist.

RankSchoolCitySectorMedian earnings, 1 year afterGraduates counted
1Harmony Health Care InstituteMerrimackFor-profit, under 2-year$85,95368
2Schoolcraft Community College DistrictLivoniaPublic, 4-year$75,10432
3Saint Michael College of Allied HealthWashingtonFor-profit, 2-year$74,78249
4Shawsheen Valley School of Practical NursingBillericaPublic, under 2-year$72,23041
5Southern Worcester County Regional Vocational School DistrictCharltonPublic, under 2-year$67,49836
6Unitek CollegeSouth San FranciscoFor-profit, under 2-year$66,221187
7Transitions Career Institute School of NursingCollege PointFor-profit, under 2-year$65,99239
8Medical Allied Career CenterSanta Fe SpringsFor-profit, under 2-year$65,38743
9AMG School of NursingBrooklynFor-profit, 2-year$64,878152
10Verve CollegeOak BrookFor-profit, under 2-year$63,59389
11Gogebic Community CollegeIronwoodPublic, 2-year$62,79935
12Mount Wachusett Community CollegeGardnerPublic, 2-year$62,72044
13Southeastern Technical InstituteSouth EastonPublic, under 2-year$62,48249
14North-West College-Van NuysVan NuysFor-profit, under 2-year$62,35686
15Unitek CollegeFremontFor-profit, 4-year$61,838803
16Bismarck State CollegeBismarckPublic, 4-year$61,62959
17Muskegon Community CollegeMuskegonPublic, 2-year$60,99548
18Concorde Career College-San DiegoSan DiegoFor-profit, 2-year$60,979140
19Dakota College at BottineauBottineauPublic, 2-year$60,96939
20Carrington CollegeSacramentoFor-profit, 4-year$60,77894
21GateWay Community CollegePhoenixPublic, 4-year$60,62044
22Charles A Jones Career and Education CenterSacramentoPublic, under 2-year$60,28234

Earnings cover federally aided graduates only, as published by College Scorecard.

How to read this. A smaller program can show a high or low figure from just a few graduates, and this earnings figure only ever covers students who received federal aid, so it does not describe every graduate.