Practical Nursing (Associate's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 7 programs report first-year pay
- 6 also report federal debt
- Associate's in Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
The median California practical nursing associate's program pays its graduates $59,213 in their first year, $11,311 more than the national median. Unitek College (Fremont, California) reports the highest first-year pay ($72,368), and Butte College the lowest median debt ($13,382).
All 7 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.
Merced College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.
Debt and first-year pay at every California practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
- Unitek College (Fremont, California)$72,368
- Butte College$65,467
- Carrington College-Sacramento$65,035
- Pacific College$59,213
- Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts$56,700
Lowest median debt
- Butte College$13,382
- Pacific College$16,125
- San Joaquin Valley College-Visalia$20,000
- Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts$20,594
- Unitek College (Fremont, California)$22,848
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 California
Pay for licensed practical and vocational nurses in California, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
$79,750Median pay in California. 82,850 people work in this job in California. 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
Unitek College (Fremont, California) in Fremont reports the highest median first-year pay, $72,368. Its median federal debt is $22,848.
Butte College reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,382, with first-year pay of $65,467.
The median across 7 California practical nursing associate's programs is $59,213 in the first year after graduating and $89,259 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in California earn a median of $79,750 across all experience levels.
7 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 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 California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
- Medians are across the practical nursing associate's 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