Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Polytech Adult Education

Polytech Adult Education's nursing program sits in an interesting middle ground: graduates earn well above the national median ($49,418 vs. $44,134), placing them in the 73rd percentile nationally, but they trail slightly behind Delaware's median for nursing programs. With only three programs in the state, this ranks in the bottom half, about $800 behind Delaware Tech-Terry's graduates.

The debt picture helps offset this positioning. At $10,599, graduates borrow roughly $4,200 less than the national median and $2,300 less than Delaware's typical nursing debt. This translates to a debt-to-earnings ratio of just 0.21—meaning graduates could theoretically pay off their loans with about two and a half months of gross income. For a healthcare credential that leads to immediate employment, this is manageable financing.

The practical reality: your child would enter the workforce earning a solid middle-class income with minimal debt burden, though they might earn slightly more starting at Delaware Tech. The low 3% Pell Grant rate suggests this program may serve students with some existing resources, which could explain the lower borrowing. If convenience, scheduling, or program availability makes Polytech the better fit, the financial difference between DE programs is modest enough that it shouldn't be the deciding factor. The debt-to-earnings math works regardless of which Delaware program your child chooses.