Which Mississippi practical nursing program has the lowest debt?

Coahoma Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,788, with first-year pay of $41,032.

How much do practical nursing graduates earn in Mississippi?

The median across 12 Mississippi practical nursing certificate programs is $37,955 in the first year after graduating and $40,683 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Mississippi earn a median of $50,220 across all experience levels.

How many practical nursing certificate programs are in Mississippi?

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

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

12 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 Mississippi practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $37,955 in their first year, $6,024 less than the national median. Mississippi Delta Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($42,855), and Coahoma Community College the lowest median debt ($10,788).

Median first-year pay$37,955National $43,978

Median pay after 5 years$40,683National $49,702

Median federal debt$13,602National $14,730

Debt-to-earnings36%National 34%

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.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Mississippi Delta Community CollegeMoorhead · public	$42,855	Not reported	$16,048	37%
2	Hinds Community CollegeRaymond · public	$42,518	$43,566	$21,645	51%
3	Pearl River Community CollegePoplarville · public	$42,177	$49,493	$14,890	35%
4	Coahoma Community CollegeClarksdale · public	$41,032	Not reported	$10,788	26%
5	Holmes Community CollegeGoodman · public	$40,058	$45,798	$16,667	42%
6	Northeast Mississippi Community CollegeBooneville · public	$38,777	$39,749	$12,178	31%
7	Itawamba Community CollegeFulton · public	$37,132	$40,965	$10,875	29%
8	East Mississippi Community CollegeScooba · public	$36,809	$31,146	$25,628	70%
9	Jones County Junior CollegeEllisville · public	$34,148	$32,891	$15,764	46%
10	Meridian Community CollegeMeridian · public	$34,111	$37,126	$12,313	36%
11	Northwest Mississippi Community CollegeSenatobia · public	$32,788	$40,683	$10,998	34%
12	Southwest Mississippi Community CollegeSummit · public	$30,071	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Southwest Mississippi Community College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Mississippi Delta Community College$42,855
Hinds Community College$42,518
Pearl River Community College$42,177
Coahoma Community College$41,032
Holmes Community College$40,058

Lowest median debt

Coahoma Community College$10,788
Itawamba Community College$10,875
Northwest Mississippi Community College$10,998
Northeast Mississippi Community College$12,178
Meridian Community College$12,313

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 Mississippi

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

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

$50,220

Median pay in Mississippi. 9,850 people work in this job in Mississippi. 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%: $39,320Top 10%: $60,910

Common questions

Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead reports the highest median first-year pay, $42,855. Its median federal debt is $16,048.

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 Mississippi 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