Western Technical College (Wisconsin) Practical Nursing (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
- Public college
- La Crosse, WI
- About 236 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Technical College (Wisconsin) practical nursing graduates earn less than graduates of most practical nursing programs nationally, $27,571 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $8,816 in federal loans, less than at 90% of practical nursing programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the Wisconsin median of $28,599.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all practical nursing certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Technical College (Wisconsin) graduates earn less than the national figure and about $5,551 less than the Wisconsin median. Several Wisconsin programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 64% between the first and fifth year. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Wisconsin earn a median of $63,760 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.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $11,000 against $5,500.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $93 a month, or 4.0% 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. Separately, 28 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $10,394.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
89% of graduates (70 of 79) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the La Crosse area are about 8% below the national average, so a $27,571 salary here buys what about $30,044 buys in a typical US city.
The median Wisconsin LPN or LVN earns $63,760, compared with a national median of $64,400. After adjusting for Wisconsin prices, that pay is worth about $67,761, which puts Wisconsin 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
$45,130Median pay in Wisconsin. 28,370 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$63,760Median pay in Wisconsin. 7,390 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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 Technical College (Wisconsin)
Practical Nursing ranks 11th of 11 certificate programs at Western Technical College (Wisconsin) by first-year earnings. The top three are Criminal Justice ($59,276), HVAC ($52,820), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($50,704).
Other practical nursing certificate programs near La Crosse
Common questions
The median graduate earns $27,571 one year after graduating and $45,090 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in the La Crosse metro area earn a median of $63,950 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $8,816, which ranks 6th lowest of 14 practical nursing certificate programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $93 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 32% 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. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Wisconsin programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 89% (70 of 79) were working in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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