Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Great Oaks Career Campuses

Drawing on data from 49 similar nursing programs across Ohio, this practical nursing certificate suggests first-year earnings around $43,200 against roughly $14,800 in debt—a manageable 0.34 ratio that means graduates would owe about four months of their first year's salary. That's slightly better than the state median debt of $16,400 for comparable programs, though the earnings estimate sits right at Ohio's midpoint for these credentials.

The challenge is that several Cincinnati-area competitors with actual reported outcomes show significantly stronger results. Cincinnati State Technical and Community College graduates earn over $53,900 their first year out, while Fortis College campuses report nearly $50,000—both $6,000 to $10,000 above what peer programs suggest for Great Oaks. For a credential that leads to immediate employment in a field with fairly standardized licensing requirements, those gaps matter. Similar training costs shouldn't produce such different earning trajectories unless there are meaningful differences in clinical placement networks, employer relationships, or program rigor.

The debt load itself isn't alarming for healthcare training, but parents should understand they're choosing between programs where actual graduate outcomes vary by thousands of dollars annually. Before committing, directly ask Great Oaks for their NCLEX-PN pass rates, job placement rates, and where their graduates actually get hired—then compare those specifics against Cincinnati State and other local alternatives whose stronger earnings data is already public.