Which California practical nursing program has the lowest debt?

Merced College reports the lowest median federal debt, $6,250, with first-year pay of $31,349.

How much do practical nursing graduates earn in California?

The median across 41 California practical nursing certificate programs is $52,792 in the first year after graduating and $57,182 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in California earn a median of $79,750 across all experience levels.

How many practical nursing certificate programs are in California?

41 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 39 of them also report federal debt.

Practical Nursing (Certificate) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

41 programs report first-year pay
39 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 California practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $52,792 in their first year, $8,814 more than the national median. Unitek College (Hayward, California) reports the highest first-year pay ($66,221), and Merced College the lowest median debt ($6,250).

Median first-year pay$52,792National $43,978

Median pay after 5 years$57,182National $49,702

Median federal debt$17,398National $14,730

Debt-to-earnings34%National 34%

All 41 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.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Unitek College (Hayward, California)Hayward · private for-profit	$66,221	$73,881	$17,305	26%
2	Medical Allied Career CenterSanta Fe Springs · private for-profit	$65,387	$63,142	$17,130	26%
3	Hartnell CollegeSalinas · public	$63,321	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	North-West College-Van NuysVan Nuys · private for-profit	$62,356	$55,941	$18,845	30%
5	Unitek College (Fremont, California)Fremont · private for-profit	$61,838	$79,182	$17,305	28%
6	Concorde Career College-San DiegoSan Diego · private for-profit	$60,979	$59,552	$17,179	28%
7	Carrington College-SacramentoSacramento · private for-profit	$60,778	$71,283	$17,375	29%
8	Charles A Jones Career and Education CenterSacramento · public	$60,282	Not reported	$9,498	16%
9	American Career College-Los AngelesLos Angeles · private for-profit	$60,281	$59,430	$17,317	29%
10	Glendale Career CollegeGlendale · private for-profit	$59,140	$57,591	$18,075	31%
11	Chicago School at Los AngelesLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$59,039	$61,468	$20,324	34%
12	Marian Health Careers Center-Los Angeles CampusLos Angeles · private for-profit	$58,726	$62,139	$12,333	21%
13	Stanbridge UniversityIrvine · private for-profit	$57,359	$60,096	$20,000	35%
14	Concorde Career College-North HollywoodNorth Hollywood · private for-profit	$56,444	$64,854	$19,905	35%
15	Career Development InstituteLos Angeles · private for-profit	$56,099	$60,677	$16,873	30%
16	Institute of Technology (California)Clovis · private for-profit	$55,599	$54,913	$16,719	30%
17	Smith Chason CollegeLos Angeles · private for-profit	$55,488	$59,731	$18,015	32%
18	Gurnick Academy of Medical ArtsSan Jose · private for-profit	$54,359	$63,418	$17,317	32%
19	Xavier College School of NursingStockton · private for-profit	$53,442	$63,992	$16,850	32%
20	Clovis Adult EducationClovis · public	$53,287	$49,716	Not reported	Not reported
21	American Career College-OntarioOntario · private for-profit	$52,792	$56,132	$17,317	33%
22	North-West College-PomonaPomona · private for-profit	$52,487	$53,497	$18,845	36%
23	Angeles InstituteARTESIA · private for-profit	$52,303	$53,177	$17,783	34%
24	Angeles CollegeLos Angeles · private for-profit	$52,241	Not reported	$20,000	38%
25	California Career InstituteAnaheim · private for-profit	$51,989	$55,002	$17,363	33%
26	California Nurses Educational InstituteRancho Mirage · private for-profit	$51,543	$56,773	$20,000	39%
27	Integrity College of HealthPasadena · private for-profit	$51,193	$56,415	$17,200	34%
28	Concorde Career College-San BernardinoSan Bernardino · private for-profit	$51,132	$55,054	$17,421	34%
29	North-West College-West CovinaWest Covina · private for-profit	$50,771	$50,045	$18,075	36%
30	Beaumont Adult SchoolBeaumont · public	$50,638	$48,957	$18,857	37%
31	Homestead SchoolsTorrance · private nonprofit	$50,456	$48,657	$18,040	36%
32	Concorde Career College-Garden GroveGarden Grove · private for-profit	$49,589	$58,374	$20,125	41%
33	High Desert Medical CollegeLancaster · private for-profit	$49,021	Not reported	$17,608	36%
34	Blake Austin CollegeVacaville · private for-profit	$48,106	$61,575	$17,900	37%
35	Premiere Career CollegeIrwindale · private for-profit	$43,854	$65,347	$20,000	46%
36	Summit CollegeSan Bernardino · private for-profit	$43,828	$55,144	$17,503	40%
37	CES CollegeBurbank · private nonprofit · closed	$42,821	$58,218	$17,200	40%
38	Career Care InstituteLancaster · private for-profit	$42,296	$48,141	$17,246	41%
39	American Medical Sciences CenterGlendale · private for-profit	$38,527	Not reported	$17,293	45%
40	Healthcare Career CollegeParamount · private for-profit	$38,457	$43,421	$20,000	52%
41	Merced CollegeMerced · public	$31,349	Not reported	$6,250	20%

Hartnell College and Clovis Adult Education report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One of these schools has since closed. 3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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 39 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Unitek College (Hayward, California)$66,221
Medical Allied Career Center$65,387
Hartnell College$63,321
North-West College-Van Nuys$62,356
Unitek College (Fremont, California)$61,838

Lowest median debt

Merced College$6,250
Charles A Jones Career and Education Center$9,498
Marian Health Careers Center-Los Angeles Campus$12,333
Institute of Technology (California)$16,719
Xavier College School of Nursing$16,850

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

$79,750

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $64,390Top 10%: $100,450

Common questions

Unitek College (Hayward, California) in Hayward reports the highest median first-year pay, $66,221. Its median federal debt is $17,305.

Practical Nursing (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked633 programs by pay and debt Practical Nursing (Associate's) programs in California, ranked7 programs by pay and debt

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 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