Undergraduate certificate · Thief River Falls, Minnesota

Is Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Northland Community and Technical College worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ 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 2.3 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $47,948; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $68,708; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $13,000; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $20k (likely $20k – $24k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $27k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in MN; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.3 years (likely 1.8–2.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $181k (likely $132k – $239k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $519k (likely $390k – $689k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 51%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26