Merced College Practical Nursing (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
- Public college
- Merced, CA
- About 98 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Merced College practical nursing graduates earn less than graduates of most practical nursing programs nationally, $31,349 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $6,250 in federal loans, less than at 99% of practical nursing programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the California median of $52,792.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all practical nursing certificate programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every California practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California 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 $66 a month, or 2.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
93% of graduates (38 of 41) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Merced area are about 2% below the national average, so a $31,349 salary here buys what about $31,899 buys in a typical US city.
The median California LPN or LVN earns $79,750, compared with a national median of $64,400. After adjusting for California prices, that pay is worth about $72,029, which puts California ahead.
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
$47,630Median pay in California. 110,060 people work in this job in California. 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
$79,750Median pay in California. 82,850 people work in this job in California. 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 Merced College
Practical Nursing ranks 2nd of 4 certificate programs at Merced College by first-year earnings. The top three are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($78,871), Practical Nursing ($31,349), and Welding and Machining ($27,541).
Other practical nursing certificate programs near Merced
Common questions
The median graduate earns $31,349 one year after graduating. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in the Merced metro area earn a median of $75,890 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $6,250, which ranks the lowest of 39 practical nursing certificate programs in California. That works out to about $66 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 20% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 93% (38 of 41) were working in California 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 California 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