Which Colorado practical nursing program has the lowest debt?

Pueblo Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $9,975, with first-year pay of $25,507.

How much do practical nursing graduates earn in Colorado?

The median across 11 Colorado practical nursing certificate programs is $42,451 in the first year after graduating and $59,310 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Colorado earn a median of $73,880 across all experience levels.

How many practical nursing certificate programs are in Colorado?

11 Colorado programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

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

11 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Colorado practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $42,451 in their first year, $1,527 less than the national median. Otero College reports the highest first-year pay ($74,405), and Pueblo Community College the lowest median debt ($9,975).

Median first-year pay$42,451National $43,978

Median pay after 5 years$59,310National $49,702

Median federal debt$12,000National $14,730

Debt-to-earnings35%National 34%

All 11 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	Otero CollegeLa Junta · public	$74,405	Not reported	$24,150	32%
2	Morgan Community CollegeFort Morgan · public	$64,066	$38,802	$11,750	18%
3	Concorde Career College-AuroraAurora · private for-profit	$57,339	$60,760	$17,268	30%
4	Pima Medical Institute-AuroraAurora · private for-profit	$54,021	Not reported	$11,597	21%
5	Pickens Technical CollegeAurora · public	$53,360	Not reported	$11,000	21%
6	Technical College of the RockiesDelta · public	$42,451	$58,940	$22,133	52%
7	Emily Griffith Technical CollegeDenver · public	$37,744	Not reported	$13,267	35%
8	Arapahoe Community CollegeLittleton · public	$36,234	Not reported	$13,750	38%
9	Front Range Community CollegeWestminster · public	$29,021	$59,680	$13,107	45%
10	Pueblo Community CollegePueblo · public	$25,507	Not reported	$9,975	39%
11	Community College of DenverDenver · public	$23,614	$61,513	$12,000	51%

6 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Colorado practical nursing program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Colorado medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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 Colorado

Pay for licensed practical and vocational nurses in Colorado, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

$73,880

Median pay in Colorado. 4,920 people work in this job in Colorado. 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%: $50,820Top 10%: $84,440

Common questions

Otero College in La Junta reports the highest median first-year pay, $74,405. Its median federal debt is $24,150.

Practical Nursing (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked633 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 Colorado 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