Undergraduate certificate · Cumberland, Kentucky

Is Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 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 3 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $27,509; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $45,462; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $5,500; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $755 (likely $755 – $971); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $9k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in KY; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3 years (likely 1.2–5.3); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $38k (likely −$11k – $89k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $163k (likely $49k – $293k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 50%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26