Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Navarro College

Navarro College's practical nursing certificate comes with a significant caveat: the small sample size makes these numbers less reliable than programs with larger cohorts. That said, the data suggests middling performance for Texas—graduates earn $45,568 their first year, which falls below the state median of $46,004 and lands at just the 40th percentile among Texas nursing programs.

The debt burden of $16,154 is reasonable, creating a 0.35 debt-to-earnings ratio that most graduates can manage. You're looking at roughly four months of gross salary to cover the debt—workable for a healthcare credential. However, top Texas programs like Alvin Community College ($64,976) and Angelina College ($54,637) deliver substantially higher first-year earnings, sometimes $20,000 more annually. That gap matters when you're planning for financial stability post-graduation.

For families watching their budget, this program won't saddle students with crushing debt. But if your child has the grades and flexibility to attend one of the stronger-performing Texas nursing programs, the earnings premium could be worth the extra application effort. With 72 programs statewide, Texas offers plenty of options—and given these numbers, it's worth comparing a few before committing.