Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Blackhawk Technical College

The small sample size here demands caution, but the first-year earnings of $21,748 are dramatically lower than you'd expect—ranking in just the 10th percentile among Wisconsin nursing programs, where the typical graduate earns $37,000. That said, the explosive 96% growth to $42,620 by year four suggests either unusual employment patterns in this cohort (perhaps many started part-time) or reporting quirks. Even after that jump, graduates still trail the state median and lag far behind top Wisconsin programs like Herzing ($47,310).

The debt load tells a more encouraging story: at $7,209, it's roughly half what Wisconsin nursing students typically carry and well below the national median of $14,803. This creates a manageable debt-to-earnings ratio even with the weak first-year numbers. For students who need an affordable entry point into nursing—particularly the 36% receiving Pell grants—the low borrowing could matter more than the earnings gap.

With fewer than 30 graduates tracked, these numbers may not represent the typical experience. If your child is considering this program, insist on speaking with recent graduates directly to understand what's really happening with that first-year employment picture. The combination of bottom-decile earnings and small sample size makes this too uncertain to recommend without more information.