Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Fred W Eberle Technical Center

Fred W Eberle Technical Center's practical nursing program operates at a significant earnings disadvantage—graduates earn $34,661 in their first year, nearly $10,000 below the West Virginia median and $4,000 below even the bottom-performing programs in the state. While the 40th percentile ranking within West Virginia might sound middle-of-the-pack, it's misleading when the top programs in the state are earning $46,000+. Nationally, this program sits in the 18th percentile, meaning 82% of similar programs produce better outcomes.

The debt picture compounds these concerns. At $8,750, graduates carry relatively low absolute debt, but it's still in the 95th percentile nationally—meaning this program charges more than 95% of comparable programs despite delivering among the weakest earnings. The student body is overwhelmingly Pell-eligible (96%), suggesting these are students who can least afford a program that underperforms the market by such a wide margin.

For parents, this is straightforward: West Virginia has 25 practical nursing programs, and at least five consistently place graduates earning $41,000-$46,000 annually. That $8,000-$12,000 annual earnings gap translates to roughly $40,000-$60,000 over a five-year period. Unless geographic constraints make this the only accessible option, exploring programs at United Technical Center or Monongalia County would likely deliver substantially better returns on the same investment of time and training.