US College Programs

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

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 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 South Dakota practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $38,446 in their first year, $5,532 less than the national median. Western Dakota Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($43,884), and Mitchell Technical College the lowest median debt ($16,856).

Median first-year pay$38,446National $43,978
Median pay after 5 years$49,276National $49,702
Median federal debt$17,600National $14,730
Debt-to-earnings44%National 34%

All 5 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.

Debt and first-year pay at every South Dakota practical nursing program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Western Dakota Technical College$43,884
  2. Lake Area Technical College$42,160
  3. Southeast Technical College$38,446
  4. Mitchell Technical College$38,287
  5. National American University-Rapid City$37,827

Lowest median debt

  1. Mitchell Technical College$16,856
  2. Southeast Technical College$17,038
  3. Lake Area Technical College$17,600
  4. Western Dakota Technical College$20,500
  5. National American University-Rapid City$31,335

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Lake Area Technical College42%
  2. Mitchell Technical College44%
  3. Southeast Technical College44%
  4. Western Dakota Technical College47%
  5. National American University-Rapid City83%

"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 South Dakota

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

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

$52,750

Median pay in South Dakota. 2,050 people work in this job in South Dakota. 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%: $40,770Top 10%: $67,700

Common questions

Western Dakota Technical College in Rapid City reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,884. Its median federal debt is $20,500.

Related pages

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 South Dakota 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024