Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home

Arkansas State University-Mountain Home's practical nursing program sits in the middle of the pack for Arkansas but trails national benchmarks by a meaningful margin. Starting at $37,769, graduates earn about $6,500 less than the national median and fall slightly below Arkansas's state median of $38,276. Within Arkansas, they're performing at the 40th percentile—better than half the state's 28 programs but notably behind top performers like Baptist Health College Little Rock ($48,332) and Northwest Technical Institute ($47,715). That's roughly $10,000 less annually than what these stronger Arkansas programs deliver.

The debt load of $16,500 creates a manageable but not particularly advantageous financial picture. With a 0.44 debt-to-earnings ratio, graduates can reasonably pay this off, but they're carrying more debt than typical Arkansas nursing students ($11,259 median) while earning less. The math works—you're not looking at a financial disaster—but this combination means a longer payback period than at programs with either higher earnings or lower debt.

Given the small sample size here, these numbers could shift with more data. If your child is considering this program, the comparison to other Arkansas options is worth serious attention. For families prioritizing location in the Mountain Home area, this works as a pathway into nursing, but students willing to relocate for training could potentially start their careers $5,000-10,000 ahead annually at stronger in-state alternatives.