LPN Schools in Minnesota, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn

16 accredited institutions in Minnesota report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.

See The Ranking

U.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.

Across the 16 ranked programs in Minnesota, the median graduate needs 5.4 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $18,866, against median earnings of $43,308 one year after completion.

That is slower than the national median of 4.3 months for this field, measured across the 650 institutions in our national LPN schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park, at 2.3 months.

Every figure on this page is recalculated on Minnesota institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.

At A Glance

What the federal data says about LPN schools in Minnesota

5.4 mo

state median to cover the debt

$18,866

median debt at completion

$43,308

median earnings, one year out

48%

median completion rate

The Ranking

16 LPN schools in Minnesota, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt

Lower is better.

#	School	Type	Award	Months	Debt	Earnings	Completion
1	Hennepin Technical CollegeBrooklyn Park, MN	Public	Certificate	2.3	$8,250	$43,470	42%
2	Lake Superior CollegeDuluth, MN	Public	Certificate	3.0	$11,969	$47,190	42%
3	Anoka Technical CollegeAnoka, MN	Public	Certificate	3.4	$12,000	$42,648	66%
4	Dakota County Technical CollegeRosemount, MN	Public	Certificate	3.4	$14,010	$48,973	58%
5	Alexandria Technical & Community CollegeAlexandria, MN	Public	Certificate	4.2	$13,671	$38,862	60%
6	Pine Technical & Community CollegePine City, MN	Public	Certificate	4.3	$13,625	$37,690	36%
7	Saint Paul CollegeSaint Paul, MN	Public	Certificate	4.7	$17,500	$44,393	40%
8	Northland Community and Technical CollegeThief River Falls, MN	Public	Certificate	5.2	$19,131	$44,017	56%
9	Rasmussen University-MinnesotaSt. Cloud, MN	for-profit	Certificate	5.6	$21,274	$45,271	53%
10	Rochester Community and Technical CollegeRochester, MN	Public	Certificate	5.8	$20,228	$42,200	29%
11	Riverland Community CollegeAustin, MN	Public	Certificate	6.0	$22,356	$44,726	52%
12	Minnesota State Community and Technical CollegeFergus Falls, MN	Public	Certificate	6.0	$19,700	$39,109	47%
13	Central Lakes College-BrainerdBrainerd, MN	Public	Certificate	6.3	$18,600	$35,623	53%
14	Ridgewater CollegeWillmar, MN	Public	Certificate	6.3	$23,755	$44,921	50%
15	Minnesota State College SoutheastWinona, MN	Public	Certificate	6.5	$23,302	$43,145	47%
16	St Cloud Technical and Community CollegeSaint Cloud, MN	Public	Certificate	7.2	$23,836	$39,897	45%

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.

The Top Five, In Detail

The five fastest payback programs in Minnesota, one by one

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

Hennepin Technical College is a public institution in Brooklyn Park. Its practical nursing graduates leave with a median federal debt of $8,250 and report median earnings of $43,470 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.3 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 3.1 months faster than the Minnesota state median of 5.4. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 42% completion rate.

Lake Superior College

Duluth, MN

Lake Superior College is a public institution in Duluth. Its practical nursing graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,969 and report median earnings of $47,190 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.0 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 2.4 months faster than the Minnesota state median of 5.4. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 42% completion rate.

Anoka Technical College

Anoka, MN

Anoka Technical College is a public institution in Anoka. Its practical nursing graduates leave with a median federal debt of $12,000 and report median earnings of $42,648 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.4 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 2.0 months faster than the Minnesota state median of 5.4. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 66% completion rate.

Dakota County Technical College

Rosemount, MN

Dakota County Technical College is a public institution in Rosemount. Its practical nursing graduates leave with a median federal debt of $14,010 and report median earnings of $48,973 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.4 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 2.0 months faster than the Minnesota state median of 5.4. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 58% completion rate.

Alexandria Technical & Community College

Alexandria, MN

Alexandria Technical & Community College is a public institution in Alexandria. Its practical nursing graduates leave with a median federal debt of $13,671 and report median earnings of $38,862 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.2 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 1.2 months faster than the Minnesota state median of 5.4. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 60% completion rate.

Read It Carefully

What this ranking does not measure

Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.

The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.

Other States

The same program, another state

Other Programs in Minnesota

Comparing a different trade in Minnesota

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For MINNESOTA School Operators

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