Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Chattanooga College Medical Dental and & Technical Careers

A $21,879 debt load—slightly above the national median for nursing assistant programs—becomes more manageable when you consider that similar programs typically produce first-year earnings around $51,744. That 0.42 debt-to-earnings ratio suggests graduates could theoretically pay off their loans with roughly five months of gross income, which is reasonable for a two-year healthcare credential. However, keep in mind that Tennessee's nursing assistant programs typically see lower earnings than the national average, with the state median at $45,301. If this program's outcomes track closer to Tennessee norms rather than national figures, the debt picture tightens considerably.

The 90% Pell grant rate indicates this school serves predominantly low-income students, who may be especially sensitive to any earnings shortfall. The challenge is that with suppressed data, you can't see how this specific program performs—whether it's an outlier achieving stronger results or falling below even Tennessee's modest benchmarks. Miller-Motte College-Chattanooga, another local option, reports actual earnings at $45,301, giving you at least one concrete data point for comparison in the Chattanooga market.

The practical reality: nursing assistants find steady work, but the financial return depends heavily on whether graduates move quickly into higher-paying RN roles or remain in assistant positions. Without this program's actual outcomes, you're betting on whether it matches national performance or Tennessee's lower trajectory—a meaningful gamble when your child is taking on nearly $22,000 in debt.