Majors

Best Colleges for Nursing, by Earnings

863 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Nursing, about 106,867 degrees a year. Across the 751 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $84,588 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	California State University-East Bay	CA	$150,921	107	97.4%
2	San Francisco State University	CA	$150,102	196	96.4%
3	Dominican University of California	CA	$149,622	121	83.5%
4	Samuel Merritt University	CA	$148,193	511
5	Sonoma State University	CA	$143,886	54	93.4%
6	University of San Francisco	CA	$143,356	227	61.7%
7	California State University-Monterey Bay	CA	$134,489	59	97.4%
8	Bushnell University	OR	$131,400	19	67.3%
9	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$129,960	181	94%
10	California State University-Stanislaus	CA	$126,959	135	98.1%
11	CUNY Medgar Evers College	NY	$125,792	8	86.1%
12	University of Bridgeport	CT	$123,148	133	83%
13	University of Mount Saint Vincent	NY	$120,822	245	85.1%
14	San Diego State University	CA	$120,799	195	36.2%
15	University of Hawaii at Manoa	HI	$120,258	119	86.6%
16	California State University-San Marcos	CA	$120,196	278	95.1%
17	University of California-Irvine	CA	$119,502	47	28.6%
18	California State University-Fullerton	CA	$119,353	333	90.5%
19	University of Providence	MT	$119,206	71	50.3%
20	CUNY Lehman College	NY	$119,115	145	56.6%
21	Mount Saint Mary's University	CA	$119,050	172	73.1%
22	California State University-Dominguez Hills	CA	$118,588	185	93.3%
23	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$118,566	49	9%
24	Azusa Pacific University	CA	$118,549	558	88.4%
25	New York University	NY	$118,433	437	7.7%
26	Long Island University	NY	$118,331	416	86.2%
27	Mercy University	NY	$118,232	318	85.8%
28	California State University-Chico	CA	$117,543	113	92.7%
29	New York Institute of Technology	NY	$117,461	62	81%
30	Molloy University	NY	$117,011	366	81.7%
31	CUNY Graduate School and University Center	NY	$116,969	182	68.5%
32	California State University-Northridge	CA	$116,613	132	93.5%
33	CUNY Hunter College	NY	$116,361	176	53.8%
34	California State University-Los Angeles	CA	$116,182	147	91.3%
35	Pace University	NY	$115,695	218	75.9%
36	Point Loma Nazarene University	CA	$114,919	111	83.7%
37	National University	CA	$114,413	243
38	Wagner College	NY	$113,728	115	88%
39	College of Staten Island CUNY	NY	$113,631	30	92.3%
40	Simpson University	CA	$113,623	53	86%
41	Hawaii Pacific University	HI	$112,964	122	85.9%
42	Adelphi University	NY	$112,945	470	65.9%
43	California State University-Channel Islands	CA	$112,691	90	94.8%
44	Fresno Pacific University	CA	$112,178	1	64.1%
45	St. Francis College	NY	$112,171	56
46	CUNY York College	NY	$112,147	48	64.1%
47	Stony Brook University	NY	$111,898	196	49%
48	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$111,681	157	46.3%
49	California State University-Fresno	CA	$111,278	142	95.3%
50	Dominican University New York	NY	$111,206	100	63.3%
51	Biola University	CA	$111,200	55	74.4%
52	University of Hawaii at Hilo	HI	$111,027	37	60.6%
53	Loma Linda University	CA	$110,805	160
54	CUNY New York City College of Technology	NY	$109,738	39	80.3%
55	California State University-San Bernardino	CA	$109,499	161	93.7%
56	Linfield University	OR	$109,374	291	85.2%
57	Saint Elizabeth University	NJ	$109,286	46	71%
58	Montclair State University	NJ	$109,167	45	87.9%
59	Bloomfield College of Montclair State University	NJ	$109,167	32	69.7%
60	Felician University	NJ	$109,098	210
61	Binghamton University	NY	$108,691	190	38.6%
62	Chaminade University of Honolulu	HI	$108,622	92	91.4%
63	Mount Saint Mary College	NY	$108,400	103	88.9%
64	California Baptist University	CA	$108,157	179	84.9%
65	Farmingdale State College	NY	$108,029	96	63.3%
66	SUNY Polytechnic Institute	NY	$108,014	25	81.4%
67	Trinity Washington University	DC	$106,318	37	99.5%
68	Immaculata University	PA	$105,749	70	85.8%
69	Concordia University-Irvine	CA	$105,657	123	66%
70	University of Scranton	PA	$105,353	80	81.2%
71	Davis & Elkins College	WV	$105,127	17	94.3%
72	St. Joseph's University-New York	NY	$104,818	69	72.1%
73	Saint Mary's University of Minnesota	MN	$104,761	3	92.8%
74	Thomas Edison State University	NJ	$104,672	108
75	Oregon Health & Science University	OR	$104,592	364
76	University of Maryland Global Campus	MD	$104,450	185
77	The College of New Jersey	NJ	$104,369	67	62.3%
78	University of Hartford	CT	$104,301	52	95.8%
79	University of Houston-Clear Lake	TX	$103,991	13	90.5%
80	Grand Canyon University	AZ	$103,884	3,721	78.9%
81	Touro University	NY	$103,863	44	60.8%
82	University of Portland	OR	$103,823	250	89.2%
83	Bowie State University	MD	$103,814	30	72.4%
84	Caldwell University	NJ	$103,559	80	71.3%
85	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	$103,534	126	70.6%
86	Sacred Heart University	CT	$103,244	252	65.4%
87	Monmouth University	NJ	$103,184	27	89%
88	Keuka College	NY	$102,802	12	68.1%
89	Coppin State University	MD	$102,720	55	45.8%
90	New Jersey City University	NJ	$102,386	108	98.4%
91	Empire State University	NY	$102,384	92
92	California State University-Bakersfield	CA	$102,298	87	93.9%
93	Vanguard University of Southern California	CA	$102,239	39	62.4%
94	SUNY College of Technology at Canton	NY	$102,176	32	92.2%
95	Roseman University of Health Sciences	NV	$101,932	314
96	Emory University	GA	$101,903	140	10.7%
97	Fairfield University	CT	$101,831	197	33.3%
98	Walla Walla University	WA	$101,497	61
99	William Paterson University of New Jersey	NJ	$101,328	419	90.1%
100	La Salle University	PA	$100,679	125	96.6%

Showing the top 100 of 751 colleges that report earnings. 112 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid Nursing graduates?

California State University-East Bay ($150,921), San Francisco State University ($150,102), Dominican University of California ($149,622), Samuel Merritt University ($148,193), Sonoma State University ($143,886) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Nursing majors make?

The median across 751 colleges is $84,588 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $24,524 to $150,921.

Which colleges have the biggest Nursing programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: Grand Canyon University (3,721), The University of Texas at Arlington (2,652), Ohio University-Main Campus (1,396), Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (915), University of North Carolina Wilmington (789).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.