Mount Wachusett Community College Practical Nursing (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
- Public college
- Gardner, MA
- About 21 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Mount Wachusett Community College practical nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most practical nursing programs nationally, $62,720 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $14,435 in federal loans, close to the national median of $14,730. It is one of the higher-paying practical nursing programs in Massachusetts.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Massachusetts and national columns are the medians across all practical nursing certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Mount Wachusett Community College graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Massachusetts median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Massachusetts medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 14% between the first and fifth year. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Massachusetts earn a median of $80,220 across all experience levels, which shows how much room there is to grow after the first few years.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate. BLS figures cover licensed practical and vocational nurses at every experience level.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $153 a month, or 2.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
102% of graduates (45 of 44) were working in Massachusetts one year after graduating. Prices in the Worcester area are about 3% above the national average, so a $62,720 salary here buys what about $61,177 buys in a typical US city.
The median Massachusetts LPN or LVN earns $80,220, compared with a national median of $64,400. After adjusting for Massachusetts prices, that pay is worth about $75,853, which puts Massachusetts 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
$46,680Median pay in Massachusetts. 38,130 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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
$80,220Median pay in Massachusetts. 13,210 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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 Mount Wachusett Community College
Practical Nursing ranks 1st of 2 certificate programs at Mount Wachusett Community College by first-year earnings. The other is Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($45,300).
Other practical nursing certificate programs near Gardner
Common questions
The median graduate earns $62,720 one year after graduating and $71,531 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in the Worcester metro area earn a median of $79,060 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $14,435, which ranks 8th lowest of 11 practical nursing certificate programs in Massachusetts. That works out to about $153 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 23% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Most do. 102% (45 of 44) were working in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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