Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Labette Community College

The earnings pattern here raises immediate questions. Labette's nursing graduates start strong at $67K—above Kansas's median and competitive with programs like Johnson County CC—but see their income drop 18% by year four to $55K. With fewer than 30 graduates tracked, this could reflect a few nurses switching to part-time work, relocating to lower-cost-of-living areas, or career changes rather than a fundamental program weakness.

The positive framing: at $16,150 in debt, graduates owe about 25% less than typical Kansas nursing students and roughly $5,000 below the national median. That's a meaningful difference when you're making loan payments. Within Kansas, this program ranks solidly middle-of-the-pack—60th percentile for earnings—which suggests it's preparing nurses adequately for the local market, even if it's not reaching the $70K+ levels seen at Pratt CC.

The small sample size matters considerably here. With so few graduates, even two or three nurses making different career choices could swing these numbers substantially. If your child plans to work full-time as a nurse in Kansas long-term, the lower debt load makes this worth considering, particularly since first-year earnings are respectable. But the earnings decline and limited data mean you'll want to dig deeper—talk to recent grads about their career paths and verify whether most stay in traditional nursing roles after graduation.