Practical Nursing (Certificate) Programs in Tennessee, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 25 programs report first-year pay
- 23 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 Tennessee practical nursing certificate program pays its graduates $39,477 in their first year, $4,501 less than the national median. Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville reports the highest first-year pay ($51,085), and Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Livingston the lowest median debt ($5,704).
All 25 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.
Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Shelbyville and Tennessee College of Applied Technology-McMinnville report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee practical nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 23 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
Lowest median debt
"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 Tennessee
Pay for licensed practical and vocational nurses in Tennessee, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
$58,870Median pay in Tennessee. 20,830 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville in Nashville reports the highest median first-year pay, $51,085. Its median federal debt is $19,966.
Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Livingston reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,704, with first-year pay of $25,955.
The median across 25 Tennessee practical nursing certificate programs is $39,477 in the first year after graduating and $43,041 five years after. Licensed practical and vocational nurses in Tennessee earn a median of $58,870 across all experience levels.
25 Tennessee programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 23 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 Tennessee 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