Which Georgia practical nursing program has the lowest debt?

Coastal Pines Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,500, with first-year pay of $40,728.

How much do practical nursing graduates earn in Georgia?

The median across 20 Georgia practical nursing certificate programs is $42,153 in the first year after graduating and $46,579 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Georgia earn a median of $62,030 across all experience levels.

How many practical nursing certificate programs are in Georgia?

20 Georgia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 16 of them also report federal debt.

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

20 programs report first-year pay
16 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 Georgia practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $42,153 in their first year, $1,826 less than the national median. Augusta Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($51,024), and Coastal Pines Technical College the lowest median debt ($7,500).

Median first-year pay$42,153National $43,978

Median pay after 5 years$46,579National $49,702

Median federal debt$12,910National $14,730

Debt-to-earnings36%National 34%

All 20 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	Augusta Technical CollegeAugusta · public	$51,024	Not reported	$12,910	25%
2	Georgia Piedmont Technical CollegeClarkston · public	$48,045	$53,372	$20,751	43%
3	North Georgia Technical CollegeClarkesville · public	$47,416	$50,444	$15,058	32%
4	Southern Crescent Technical CollegeGriffin · public	$47,408	$46,847	$12,892	27%
5	Athens Technical CollegeAthens · public	$45,119	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Georgia Northwestern Technical CollegeRome · public	$44,957	$49,244	$9,500	21%
7	Savannah Technical CollegeSavannah · public	$43,592	$42,213	Not reported	Not reported
8	South Georgia Technical CollegeAmericus · public	$43,266	$41,998	$11,346	26%
9	West Georgia Technical CollegeWaco · public	$42,462	$46,310	$17,000	40%
10	Ogeechee Technical CollegeStatesboro · public	$42,248	Not reported	$18,250	43%
11	Albany Technical CollegeAlbany · public	$42,057	Not reported	$25,276	60%
12	Dalton State CollegeDalton · public	$41,595	$44,135	$9,007	22%
13	Chattahoochee Technical CollegeMarietta · public	$41,533	$56,074	Not reported	Not reported
14	Central Georgia Technical CollegeWarner Robins · public	$41,347	$47,950	$16,479	40%
15	Coastal Pines Technical CollegeWaycross · public	$40,728	$37,849	$7,500	18%
16	Southeastern Technical CollegeVidalia · public	$39,368	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
17	Wiregrass Georgia Technical CollegeValdosta · public	$37,112	$40,190	$9,500	26%
18	Oconee Fall Line Technical CollegeSandersville · public	$32,031	$50,728	$14,104	44%
19	Lanier Technical CollegeGainesville · public	$29,881	$49,891	$13,557	45%
20	Helms CollegeAugusta · private nonprofit	$22,206	Not reported	$8,812	40%

Athens Technical College, Savannah Technical College, Chattahoochee Technical College, and Southeastern Technical College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 16 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Augusta Technical College$51,024
Georgia Piedmont Technical College$48,045
North Georgia Technical College$47,416
Southern Crescent Technical College$47,408
Athens Technical College$45,119

Lowest median debt

Coastal Pines Technical College$7,500
Helms College$8,812
Dalton State College$9,007
Georgia Northwestern Technical College$9,500
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College$9,500

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 Georgia

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

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

$62,030

Median pay in Georgia. 21,060 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $46,010Top 10%: $76,690

Common questions

Augusta Technical College in Augusta reports the highest median first-year pay, $51,024. Its median federal debt is $12,910.

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 Georgia 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