Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants at Southern Regional Technical College

Comparable nursing programs in Georgia suggest first-year earnings around $42,000, which drops to $35,500 by year four—an unusual decline that warrants scrutiny. That four-year figure falls nearly $7,000 below what new LPNs typically earn, raising questions about whether graduates are maintaining full-time employment in their field or facing regional wage constraints in rural South Georgia. For context, the state's top technical colleges place LPN graduates into jobs earning $45,000-$51,000 in year one, suggesting Southern Regional's estimated trajectory lags behind peer institutions.

The debt load of $11,050 looks manageable against that estimated $42,000 starting point—you'd expect graduates to clear this in about three months of gross pay. However, that calculation assumes the first-year estimate holds true and doesn't account for the puzzling earnings drop by year four. If graduates actually track closer to that $35,500 figure, the debt becomes a heavier lift, particularly in an area where healthcare job opportunities may be more limited than in Georgia's metro regions.

The bottom line: This program's estimated costs are reasonable, but the earnings trajectory—particularly that backward slide—is concerning enough that you'd want to verify actual job placement rates and talk to recent graduates about their employment situations before enrolling. The gap between Southern Regional's outcomes and the state's stronger technical colleges suggests location and program quality may significantly impact your child's career start.