Graduates earn a median $96,126 two years after finishing, more than 96% of master's majors. Measured across 708 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.
Yes, on the money — this is one of the best-paying majors at this level in the country.
| # | University | 1 yr out | 2 yrs out | 3 yrs out | Graduates/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lourdes University | $95,619 | $209,569 | $120,289 | 17 |
| 2 | Central Connecticut State University cost & debt at this university → | $187,984 | $198,307 | $194,357 | 3 |
| 3 | Millikin University cost & debt at this university → | not published | $197,436 | not published | — |
| 4 | Saint Mary's University of Minnesota cost & debt at this university → | $205,288 | $188,108 | $200,367 | 32 |
| 5 | Albany Medical College | $192,222 | $187,234 | $192,745 | 25 |
| 6 | Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University | $170,719 | $183,312 | $191,208 | 8 |
| 7 | Bryan College of Health Sciences | $67,356 | $182,280 | $188,030 | 5 |
| 8 | University of New England cost & debt at this university → | $194,084 | $182,280 | $205,893 | 20 |
| 9 | Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science | not published | $180,822 | $201,036 | — |
| 10 | AdventHealth University | $187,060 | $177,561 | $168,412 | 36 |
| 11 | Missouri State University-Springfield | not published | $175,202 | $184,068 | 12 |
| 12 | Texas Wesleyan University | $173,949 | $173,224 | $174,184 | 5 |
It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median master's major in this dataset reports $54,713, so Nursing sits above the middle by $41,413.
Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".
There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.
Whatever the subject pays, the money you do not borrow is the money you keep.
We may earn a commission if you take a loan through a provider here. It never changes the earnings figures on this page — those come from the US Department of Education.
Classified by the Department of Education as Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (CIP 5138). Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.