Which Virginia Western Community College certificate program has the lowest debt?

Medical Laboratory Science graduates leave with a median of $5,919 in federal loans, the lowest among 4 Virginia Western Community College certificate programs that report debt.

How much does Virginia Western Community College cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $5,400 a year, and $11,838 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $4,966 a year.

How many Virginia Western Community College programs report graduate pay?

9 associate's programs and 10 certificate programs at Virginia Western Community College report first-year pay, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

Virginia Western Community College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Roanoke, VA
3,898 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

10 Virginia Western Community College certificate programs report what graduates earn. Practical Nursing pays the most in the first year ($48,420), and Human Development and Family Studies the least ($21,057). The median program pays $31,093. Virginia Western Community College also has 9 associate's programs that report pay.

In-state tuition and fees$5,400Per year. Out-of-state $11,838

Average net price after aid$4,966Per year

Graduation rate40%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 9 associate's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's associate's programs across Virginia. 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 Virginia
1	NursingAbout 48 graduates a year	$64,052	$66,295	$23,500	21st of 25
2	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 27 graduates a year	$61,030	$65,927	$11,500	2nd of 4
3	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 40 graduates a year	$54,480	$65,360	$12,000	8th of 11
4	Industrial TechnologyAbout 26 graduates a year	$49,287	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 2
5	Business AdministrationAbout 82 graduates a year	$38,214	$44,613	$9,350	4th of 11
6	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 11 graduates a year	$31,440	$32,086	Not reported	2nd of 3
7	Biological and Physical SciencesAbout 69 graduates a year	$27,786	$42,298	$7,334	3rd of 6
8	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 94 graduates a year	$22,071	$35,443	$10,900	15th of 20
9	Social SciencesAbout 53 graduates a year	$19,220	$35,551	$9,128	4th of 5

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

One more associate's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

All 10 certificate programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's certificate programs across Virginia. 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 Virginia
1	Practical NursingAbout 12 graduates a year	$48,420	$48,637	$19,176	4th of 15
2	HVACAbout 29 graduates a year	$40,629	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 4
3	Electrical Engineering TechnologyAbout 36 graduates a year	$40,104	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 4
4	Electrician TrainingAbout 23 graduates a year	$34,439	Not reported	Not reported	4th of 5
5	Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 29 graduates a year	$31,772	Not reported	$5,919	2nd of 3
6	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 12 graduates a year	$30,414	Not reported	Not reported	9th of 9
7	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 41 graduates a year	$28,754	$32,974	$28,627	1st of 4
8	Welding and MachiningAbout 25 graduates a year	$22,788	Not reported	Not reported	7th of 8
9	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 113 graduates a year	$22,692	$34,934	$11,075	12th of 18
10	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 15 graduates a year	$21,057	Not reported	Not reported	3rd of 5

Quick picks: certificate programs

Highest first-year pay

Practical Nursing$48,420
HVAC$40,629
Electrical Engineering Technology$40,104
Electrician Training$34,439
Medical Laboratory Science$31,772

Lowest median debt

Medical Laboratory Science$5,919
Liberal Arts and General Studies$11,075
Practical Nursing$19,176
Health and Medical Administration$28,627

Largest programs

Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 113 graduates a year
Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 41 graduates a year
Electrical Engineering TechnologyAbout 36 graduates a year
HVACAbout 29 graduates a year
Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 29 graduates a year

Common questions

Practical Nursing graduates earn a median of $48,420 in their first year, the most of 10 Virginia Western Community 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 Virginia 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