Which Meridian College certificate program has the lowest debt?

Dental Hygiene and Assisting graduates leave with a median of $9,500 in federal loans, the lowest among 4 Meridian College certificate programs that report debt.

How much does Meridian College cost?

Tuition and fees for the school's largest program are $38,100 for the whole program. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for that program is $29,812.

How many Meridian College programs report graduate pay?

2 associate's programs and 5 certificate programs at Meridian College report first-year pay, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Meridian College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Private for-profit college
Sarasota, FL
163 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

5 Meridian College certificate programs report what graduates earn. Practical Nursing pays the most in the first year ($54,072), and Cosmetology the least ($21,848). The median program pays $31,980. Meridian College also has 2 associate's programs that report pay.

Tuition for the largest program$38,100Tuition and fees for the whole program

Net price, largest program$29,812After aid, for the whole program

Graduation rate51%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

Both associate's programs

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Florida" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Florida.

Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Florida
NursingGraduates a year not reported	$69,241	$69,737	Not reported	8th of 47
Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 16 graduates a year	$37,886	Not reported	$29,333	32nd of 32

Program names link to the program's own page, and Florida 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 Florida programs in the field do too.

All 5 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Florida" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Florida. 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 Florida
1	Practical NursingGraduates a year not reported	$54,072	$44,151	Not reported	2nd of 43
2	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 4 graduates a year	$32,764	$31,104	$14,750	7th of 19
3	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 9 graduates a year	$31,980	Not reported	$9,500	2nd of 14
4	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 7 graduates a year	$26,939	$31,871	$13,000	23rd of 40
5	CosmetologyAbout 19 graduates a year	$21,848	Not reported	$12,545	7th of 64

Common questions

Practical Nursing graduates earn a median of $54,072 in their first year, the most of 5 Meridian 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 Florida 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