Manatee Technical College Practical Nursing (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
- Public college
- Bradenton, FL
- About 54 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Manatee Technical College practical nursing graduates earn about what practical nursing graduates earn nationally, $47,102 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $11,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $14,730. It is one of the higher-paying practical nursing programs in Florida.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all practical nursing certificate programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $122 a month, or 3.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (47 of 49) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the North Port area are about 2% above the national average, so a $47,102 salary here buys what about $45,990 buys in a typical US city.
The median Florida LPN or LVN earns $61,770, compared with a national median of $64,400. After adjusting for Florida prices, that pay is worth about $59,731, which puts Florida behind.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to practical nursing, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Nursing Assistants
$37,510Median pay in Florida. 96,960 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 196,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
$61,770Median pay in Florida. 38,620 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 51,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
About Manatee Technical College
Practical Nursing ranks 3rd of 10 certificate programs at Manatee Technical College by first-year earnings. The top three are Criminal Justice ($58,216), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($49,921), and Practical Nursing ($47,102).
Other practical nursing certificate programs near Bradenton
Common questions
The median graduate earns $47,102 one year after graduating. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in the North Port metro area earn a median of $63,770 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $11,500, which ranks 20th lowest of 31 practical nursing certificate programs in Florida. That works out to about $122 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 24% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%.
Most do. 96% (47 of 49) were working in Florida one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- 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 Florida comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the practical nursing program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024