Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Lewis and Clark Community College

Lewis and Clark Community College's nursing program costs less than you'd expect but earns considerably less, too. With debt of just $12,500, your child would finish with half the typical burden for associate-level nursing programs nationwide. The catch? First-year earnings of $60,115 trail the Illinois median by about $6,000 and land in the bottom quarter nationally. Among Illinois nursing programs, this sits squarely in the middle on earnings—not awful, but notably behind strong performers like Moraine Valley ($73,137) or College of Lake County ($72,472).

The debt-to-earnings math works out fine at 0.21—your child could reasonably pay this off within a year or two while establishing themselves. However, the modest earnings growth to $62,477 by year four suggests graduates aren't catching up to peers from higher-earning programs. Illinois has nearly 50 nursing programs to choose from, and several community colleges deliver significantly better outcomes without dramatically more debt.

If this is the most accessible option geographically or your child is debt-averse, the low borrowing requirement offers real peace of mind. But if other Illinois community colleges are within reach, particularly those clustered around Chicago, they're producing nurses who earn $10,000-15,000 more annually from day one—a gap that compounds over an entire career.