Associate's · Lancaster, California

Is Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at High Desert Medical College worth it?

Low confidence Low confidence: fewer than 40 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.4 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $77,912; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: Not enough graduates to report; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $25,122; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $68k (likely $63k – $90k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $41k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.4 years (likely 1.6–3.9); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $238k (likely $70k – $408k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $682k (likely $339k – $1.04M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 57%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26