Which Lake Land College certificate program has the lowest debt?

Culinary Arts graduates leave with a median of $5,163 in federal loans, the lowest among 5 Lake Land College certificate programs that report debt.

How much does Lake Land College cost?

In-district tuition and fees are $4,415 a year, and $14,301 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $2,254 a year.

How many Lake Land College programs report graduate pay?

5 associate's programs and 9 certificate programs at Lake Land College report first-year pay, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Lake Land College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Mattoon, IL
2,448 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

9 Lake Land College certificate programs report what graduates earn. Practical Nursing pays the most in the first year ($41,756), and Applied Horticulture the least ($7,972). The median program pays $14,366. Lake Land College also has 5 associate's programs that report pay.

In-district tuition and fees$4,415Per year. Out-of-state $14,301

Average net price after aid$2,254Per year

Graduation rate58%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 5 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Illinois. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Illinois
1	NursingAbout 88 graduates a year	$63,651	$62,389	$8,950	25th of 34
2	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 26 graduates a year	$58,853	$40,788	$13,625	4th of 9
3	Agricultural MechanizationAbout 28 graduates a year	$53,448	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
4	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 21 graduates a year	$32,934	$45,768	Not reported	12th of 14
5	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 411 graduates a year	$24,754	$35,479	$7,346	31st of 41

Program names link to the program's own page, and Illinois ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Illinois programs in the field do too.

All 9 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Illinois. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Illinois
1	Practical NursingAbout 178 graduates a year	$41,756	$35,229	$7,750	14th of 26
2	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 18 graduates a year	$31,542	$35,103	Not reported	4th of 5
3	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 27 graduates a year	$28,124	Not reported	Not reported	8th of 12
4	Welding and MachiningAbout 92 graduates a year	$27,808	Not reported	Not reported	7th of 7
5	Culinary ArtsAbout 196 graduates a year	$14,366	Not reported	$5,163	1st of 1
6	CosmetologyAbout 30 graduates a year	$13,714	$31,004	Not reported	33rd of 40
7	Construction TradesAbout 347 graduates a year	$12,838	Not reported	$5,500	1st of 1
8	Housing and Human EnvironmentsGraduates a year not reported	$12,355	Not reported	$5,677	1st of 1
9	Applied HorticultureAbout 321 graduates a year	$7,972	Not reported	$8,142	1st of 1

Quick picks: certificate programs

Highest first-year pay

Practical Nursing$41,756
Health and Medical Administration$31,542
Allied Health and Medical Assisting$28,124
Welding and Machining$27,808
Culinary Arts$14,366

Lowest median debt

Culinary Arts$5,163
Construction Trades$5,500
Housing and Human Environments$5,677
Practical Nursing$7,750
Applied Horticulture$8,142

Largest programs

Construction TradesAbout 347 graduates a year
Applied HorticultureAbout 321 graduates a year
Culinary ArtsAbout 196 graduates a year
Practical NursingAbout 178 graduates a year
Welding and MachiningAbout 92 graduates a year

Common questions

Practical Nursing graduates earn a median of $41,756 in their first year, the most of 9 Lake Land College certificate programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Illinois rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels