Practical Nursing (Certificate) Programs in Michigan, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 12 programs report first-year pay
- 12 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 Michigan practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $51,596 in their first year, $7,618 more than the national median. Schoolcraft Community College District reports the highest first-year pay ($75,104), and Abcott Institute the lowest median debt ($11,542).
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.
7 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Michigan medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
- Schoolcraft Community College District$75,104
- Gogebic Community College$62,799
- Muskegon Community College$60,995
- Davenport University$55,249
- Delta College$54,108
Lowest median debt
- Abcott Institute$11,542
- Grand Rapids Community College$13,413
- Gogebic Community College$14,000
- Delta College$14,038
- Ross Medical Education Center-Brighton$15,575
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 Michigan
Pay for licensed practical and vocational nurses in Michigan, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
$65,460Median pay in Michigan. 10,880 people work in this job in Michigan. 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
Schoolcraft Community College District in Livonia reports the highest median first-year pay, $75,104. Its median federal debt is $21,575.
Abcott Institute reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,542, with first-year pay of $21,658.
The median across 12 Michigan practical nursing certificate programs is $51,596 in the first year after graduating and $58,950 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Michigan earn a median of $65,460 across all experience levels.
12 Michigan programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 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 Michigan 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