Practical Nursing (Certificate) Programs in Arkansas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 12 programs report first-year pay
- 9 also report federal debt
- Certificate in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
The median Arkansas practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $38,276 in their first year, $5,702 less than the national median. Baptist Health College Little Rock reports the highest first-year pay ($48,332), and North Arkansas College the lowest median debt ($10,322).
All 12 programs, ranked
Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.
Northwest Technical Institute, University of Arkansas Community College Rich Mountain, and Arkansas Northeastern College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 5 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.
Debt and first-year pay at every Arkansas practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Arkansas medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
- Baptist Health College Little Rock$48,332
- Northwest Technical Institute$47,715
- Arkansas State University-Beebe$44,546
- National Park College$42,364
- Arkansas State University-Newport$39,979
Lowest median debt
- North Arkansas College$10,322
- Southeast Arkansas College$10,496
- Ozarka College$11,218
- Arkansas State University-Newport$11,300
- Black River Technical College$12,950
Lowest debt for the pay
"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.
What licensed practical and vocational nurses earn in Arkansas
Pay for licensed practical and vocational nurses in Arkansas, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
$56,620Median pay in Arkansas. 10,010 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.
Common questions
Baptist Health College Little Rock in Little Rock reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,332. Its median federal debt is $22,750.
North Arkansas College reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,322, with first-year pay of $38,783.
The median across 12 Arkansas practical nursing certificate programs is $38,276 in the first year after graduating and $47,657 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Arkansas earn a median of $56,620 across all experience levels.
12 Arkansas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.
Related pages
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.
- 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 Arkansas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
- Medians are across the practical nursing certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
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
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024