Western Suffolk BOCES Practical Nursing (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
- Public school
- Northport, NY
- About 12 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Suffolk BOCES practical nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most practical nursing programs nationally, $55,150 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $14,750 in federal loans, close to the national median of $14,730. It is one of the higher-paying practical nursing programs in New York.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all practical nursing certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Suffolk BOCES graduates earn more than the national figure and about $4,547 more than the New York median.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York 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 4% between the first and fifth year. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in New York earn a median of $67,180 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 $156 a month, or 3.4% 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
91% of graduates (39 of 43) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the New York area are about 13% above the national average, so a $55,150 salary here buys what about $48,995 buys in a typical US city.
The median New York LPN or LVN earns $67,180, compared with a national median of $64,400. After adjusting for New York prices, that pay is worth about $62,249, which puts New York 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
$48,590Median pay in New York. 87,990 people work in this job in New York. 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
$67,180Median pay in New York. 39,400 people work in this job in New York. 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 Western Suffolk BOCES
Practical Nursing ranks 2nd of 4 certificate programs at Western Suffolk BOCES by first-year earnings. The top three are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($69,774), Practical Nursing ($55,150), and Vehicle Maintenance and Repair ($43,952).
Other practical nursing certificate programs near Northport
Common questions
The median graduate earns $55,150 one year after graduating and $52,869 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in the New York metro area earn a median of $75,910 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $14,750, which ranks 20th lowest of 31 practical nursing certificate programs in New York. That works out to about $156 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 27% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several New York programs report higher pay.
Most do. 91% (39 of 43) were working in New York 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 New York 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