Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Nunez Community College

The small sample size here demands caution, but the red flag is unmistakable: Nunez students carry nearly $37,000 in debt for a program where the national median debt is just $14,800. That puts this program in the 5th percentile nationally for debt—meaning 95% of comparable nursing programs nationwide saddle students with less. While first-year earnings of $44,323 match both national and Louisiana medians, the debt burden transforms what should be a straightforward vocational path into a precarious financial situation requiring nearly a full year's salary to repay.

Louisiana offers significantly better options. Fletcher Technical Community College graduates earn $52,652 with presumably lower debt loads, while Healthcare Training Institute grads pull in over $62,000. Even among Louisiana's 23 practical nursing programs, Nunez sits right at the state's median debt of $20,055—but that figure likely masks the program's outlier status given the small sample.

For families considering this route, the math is stark: you're taking on nearly twice the debt you'd face at a typical nursing program for completely average earnings. Unless there are compelling geographic or scheduling reasons to choose Nunez, parents should look hard at Fletcher Technical or other Louisiana community colleges that deliver similar or better outcomes without the crushing debt load.