Penn State Practical Nursing (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
- Public university
- University Park, PA
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Penn State practical nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most practical nursing programs nationally, $54,669 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $21,000 in federal loans, more than at 88% of practical nursing programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying practical nursing programs in Pennsylvania.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all practical nursing certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Penn State graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Pennsylvania median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania 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 falls about 10% between the first and fifth year. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Pennsylvania earn a median of $63,940 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 $223 a month, or 4.9% 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
97% of graduates (91 of 94) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating. Prices in the State College area are about 3% below the national average, so a $54,669 salary here buys what about $56,498 buys in a typical US city.
The median Pennsylvania LPN or LVN earns $63,940, compared with a national median of $64,400. After adjusting for Pennsylvania prices, that pay is worth about $65,531, which puts Pennsylvania slightly 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
$44,590Median pay in Pennsylvania. 67,740 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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
$63,940Median pay in Pennsylvania. 38,260 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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 Penn State
Practical Nursing ranks 8th of 9 certificate programs at Penn State by first-year earnings. The top three are Information Technology ($75,635), Liberal Arts and General Studies ($74,308), and Real Estate ($70,544).
Other practical nursing certificate programs near University Park
Common questions
The median graduate earns $54,669 one year after graduating and $49,256 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in the State College metro area earn a median of $61,960 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $21,000, which ranks 30th lowest of 34 practical nursing certificate programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $223 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 38% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%. Compare the cost with other Pennsylvania programs before deciding.
Most do. 97% (91 of 94) were working in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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