South College Practical Nursing (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
- Private for-profit college
- Knoxville, TN
- About 181 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
South College practical nursing graduates earn about what practical nursing graduates earn nationally, $39,238 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $15,833 in federal loans, close to the national median of $14,730. Several Tennessee programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Tennessee and national columns are the medians across all practical nursing certificate programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee 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 $168 a month, or 5.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (38 of 42) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating. Prices in the Knoxville area are about 7% below the national average, so a $39,238 salary here buys what about $42,388 buys in a typical US city.
The median Tennessee LPN or LVN earns $58,870, compared with a national median of $64,400. After adjusting for Tennessee prices, that pay is worth about $64,080, which puts Tennessee slightly 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
$37,990Median pay in Tennessee. 27,040 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$58,870Median pay in Tennessee. 20,830 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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 South College
Practical Nursing ranks 1st of 2 certificate programs at South College by first-year earnings. The other is Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($28,606).
Other practical nursing certificate programs near Knoxville
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,238 one year after graduating. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in the Knoxville metro area earn a median of $57,960 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $15,833, which ranks 21st lowest of 23 practical nursing certificate programs in Tennessee. That works out to about $168 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 40% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%. Compare the cost with other Tennessee programs before deciding.
Most do. 90% (38 of 42) were working in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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