Which Ohio practical nursing program has the lowest debt?

Sinclair Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $8,600, with first-year pay of $24,297.

How much do practical nursing graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 41 Ohio practical nursing certificate programs is $42,717 in the first year after graduating and $48,161 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Ohio earn a median of $61,950 across all experience levels.

How many practical nursing certificate programs are in Ohio?

41 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 40 of them also report federal debt.

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

41 programs report first-year pay
40 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 Ohio practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $42,717 in their first year, $1,261 less than the national median. Cincinnati State Technical and Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($53,908), and Sinclair Community College the lowest median debt ($8,600).

Median first-year pay$42,717National $43,978

Median pay after 5 years$48,161National $49,702

Median federal debt$15,199National $14,730

Debt-to-earnings38%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	Cincinnati State Technical and Community CollegeCincinnati · public	$53,908	$52,142	$21,438	40%
2	Cuyahoga Community College DistrictCleveland · public	$48,692	$57,550	$19,750	41%
3	Central Ohio Technical CollegeNewark · public	$48,483	$58,009	$14,281	29%
4	Fortis College-Cuyahoga FallsCuyahoga Falls · private for-profit	$48,339	$49,501	$26,334	54%
5	Felbry CollegeColumbus · private for-profit	$48,323	Not reported	$9,500	20%
6	Athena Career AcademyToledo · private for-profit	$48,002	$55,996	$18,811	39%
7	Fortis College-CentervilleCenterville · private for-profit	$47,880	$60,340	$22,945	48%
8	Northwest State Community CollegeArchbold · public	$47,124	$45,868	$14,334	30%
9	Butler Technology and Career Development SchoolsMonroe · public	$46,386	Not reported	$14,060	30%
10	Hondros College of NursingColumbus · private for-profit	$46,269	$52,369	$22,120	48%
11	Knox County Career CenterMount Vernon · public	$46,081	$49,255	$18,950	41%
12	Cuyahoga Valley Career CenterBrecksville · public	$45,874	$48,060	$18,596	41%
13	Stark State CollegeNorth Canton · public	$44,914	Not reported	$30,000	67%
14	Tri-Rivers Career CenterMarion · public	$44,837	$54,564	$14,911	33%
15	Upper Valley Career CenterPiqua · public	$44,245	$41,648	$14,820	33%
16	Central School of Practical NursingIndependence · private nonprofit	$43,980	$51,189	$19,000	43%
17	EHOVE Career CenterMilan · public	$43,684	$46,929	$14,516	33%
18	ETI Technical College of NilesNiles · private for-profit	$43,391	$49,257	$25,450	59%
19	Apollo Career CenterLima · public	$43,207	$41,208	$15,486	36%
20	Pickaway Ross Joint Vocational School DistrictChillicothe · public	$43,047	$47,969	$12,025	28%
21	Ashtabula County Technical and Career CampusJefferson · public	$42,717	$47,249	$16,535	39%
22	Wayne County Schools Career CenterSmithville · public	$42,438	$47,461	$9,496	22%
23	Clark State CollegeSpringfield · public	$41,996	$53,860	$18,740	45%
24	James A. Rhodes State CollegeLima · public	$41,545	$39,977	$18,464	44%
25	Professional Skills InstituteMaumee · private for-profit	$41,539	$51,494	Not reported	Not reported
26	Toledo Public Schools Adult and Continuing EducationToledo · public	$41,327	$58,138	$18,888	46%
27	Northern Career InstituteEastlake · public	$40,973	$45,698	$19,234	47%
28	Collins Career Technical CenterChesapeake · public	$40,894	$42,334	$14,167	35%
29	Ohio Medical Career CollegeDayton · private for-profit	$39,416	$55,589	$14,660	37%
30	Stautzenberger College-MaumeeMaumee · private for-profit	$39,339	$48,262	$31,527	80%
31	Buckeye Hills Career CenterRio Grande · public	$39,146	Not reported	$14,730	38%
32	North Central State CollegeMansfield · public	$38,897	Not reported	$10,424	27%
33	Columbiana County Career and Technical CenterLisbon · public	$38,702	$52,328	$13,384	35%
34	Choffin Career and Technical CenterYoungstown · public	$37,419	Not reported	$12,500	33%
35	Washington State College of OhioMarietta · public	$36,836	$37,425	$16,059	44%
36	Canton City Schools Adult Career and Technical EducationCanton · public	$36,643	Not reported	$13,220	36%
37	American Institute of Alternative MedicineColumbus · private for-profit	$36,530	Not reported	$14,346	39%
38	Mid-EastCTC-Adult EducationZanesville · public	$35,050	$40,924	$12,649	36%
39	Sandusky Career CenterSandusky · public	$35,013	Not reported	$20,120	57%
40	Scioto County Career Technical CenterLucasville · public	$31,136	$42,511	$10,250	33%
41	Sinclair Community CollegeDayton · public	$24,297	$46,170	$8,600	35%

Professional Skills Institute reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 40 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College$53,908
Cuyahoga Community College District$48,692
Central Ohio Technical College$48,483
Fortis College-Cuyahoga Falls$48,339
Felbry College$48,323

Lowest median debt

Sinclair Community College$8,600
Wayne County Schools Career Center$9,496
Felbry College$9,500
Scioto County Career Technical Center$10,250
North Central State College$10,424

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 Ohio

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

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

$61,950

Median pay in Ohio. 39,900 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $50,030Top 10%: $74,120

Common questions

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in Cincinnati reports the highest median first-year pay, $53,908. Its median federal debt is $21,438.

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 Ohio 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