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

The small sample size here demands caution, but the pattern is troubling: graduates start at just $24,297—less than half what typical Ohio LPN programs deliver. While earnings do jump 51% by year four to reach $36,715, that's still $6,500 below the state median and ranks in just the 10th percentile among Ohio's 77 nursing programs. Compare this to Cincinnati State's graduates earning $53,908 or even the typical Ohio LPN making $43,207, and the gap is substantial. The $8,600 debt load is reasonable, but when paired with such low starting earnings, you're looking at significantly delayed financial independence compared to other paths into practical nursing.

What makes this particularly concerning is how much stronger Ohio's nursing job market typically is. The state median for LPN programs sits at $43,207—nearly $20,000 more than Sinclair's first-year figure. Given the small cohort reporting data, this could reflect an unusual year or graduates working part-time initially, but it's a risk worth investigating directly with the school's career services office before enrolling. Ask specifically about graduate employment rates, typical hours worked, and whether recent cohorts show similar patterns. For an LPN certificate, you want a program that connects you to full-time nursing positions quickly—and these numbers suggest Sinclair may not be delivering that consistently.