Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Lake Superior State University

Nursing programs in Michigan show enormous variation in outcomes, with some community colleges producing graduates earning $75,000 or more within a year while others hover around the state median of $44,000. Lake Superior State's program lacks enough graduate data for the Department of Education to publish outcomes, so we're working with estimates based on other Michigan nursing programs. Those estimates suggest first-year earnings around $44,000 against roughly $16,000 in debt—a manageable 0.36 ratio that's better than many certificate programs nationally.

The challenge here is uncertainty. The top-performing programs in Michigan nearly double these estimated earnings, and they're mostly community colleges with lower price tags. Without actual data on Lake Superior State's placement rates, graduate destinations, or career trajectories, parents can't know whether this program competes with Michigan's strongest nursing options or falls short. The debt estimate is slightly below the state median, which is encouraging, but the earnings estimate sits right at average when some peer programs achieve significantly more.

For parents considering this investment, the small cohort size that triggers data suppression could signal either an intimate learning environment or limited clinical partnerships and job placement infrastructure. Before committing, demand specifics from the school: Where do graduates work? What's the NCLEX pass rate? How does this program's cost and outcomes compare to nearby community college alternatives that do have published data?