Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Florida Career College-Pembroke Pines

Graduates from this program earn roughly half what they'd make from the typical Florida nursing assistant program—$22,247 versus a state median of $40,922. That puts this program in the bottom 10th percentile statewide, and earnings actually decline slightly by year four rather than grow. Meanwhile, Florida State College at Jacksonville graduates in the same field earn $57,579, more than 2.5 times what this program delivers.

The moderate debt load of $9,861 (slightly below the state median) doesn't salvage the value equation here. When you're earning $22,000 annually, even sub-$10,000 in debt represents a meaningful burden—though the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.44 is technically manageable. The real issue is the opportunity cost: with 110 nursing assistant programs available across Florida, many produce significantly better outcomes for similar or even lower debt. The robust sample size means these aren't statistical flukes—this is the actual earning pattern for recent graduates.

For a field where median earnings should support financial independence, this program leaves graduates well short of that goal. Given the availability of stronger alternatives in Florida's competitive nursing education market, families should look elsewhere unless there are compelling geographic or scheduling constraints that make other programs inaccessible.