Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$63,931

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

355,213

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA · Public	$6,333	$93,875	<1 yr
2	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$5,700	$87,548	<1 yr
3	California State University-Stanislaus Turlock, CA · Public	$7,976	$99,447	<1 yr
4	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY · Public	$8,084	$95,348	<1 yr
5	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY · Public	$6,908	$94,255	<1 yr
6	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY · Public	$9,270	$94,579	<1 yr
7	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	$8,030	$85,159	<1 yr
8	CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY · Public	$8,412	$88,399	<1 yr
9	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY · Private	$8,106	$90,856	<1 yr
10	Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX · Public	$4,262	$64,990	<1 yr
11	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	$12,602	$108,495	<1 yr
12	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	$9,017	$86,042	<1 yr
13	CUNY York College Jamaica, NY · Public	$9,462	$87,973	<1 yr
14	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA · Public	$9,854	$88,739	<1 yr
15	Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY · Public	$10,914	$93,439	<1 yr
16	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA · Public	$15,615	$113,585	<1 yr
17	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$111,769	<1 yr
18	CUNY Medgar Evers College Brooklyn, NY · Public	$10,412	$89,044	<1 yr
19	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	$10,780	$92,124	<1 yr
20	California State University-Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA · Public	$9,102	$80,521	<1 yr
21	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	$5,452	$61,334	<1 yr
22	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	$12,644	$90,678	<1 yr
23	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	$11,189	$85,795	<1 yr
24	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$72,152	<1 yr
25	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA · Public	$8,147	$72,152	<1 yr
26	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA · Public	$17,985	$110,432	1 yrs
27	St. Francis College Brooklyn, NY · Private	$14,129	$93,520	1 yrs
28	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$63,071	1 yrs
29	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	$9,439	$72,152	1 yrs
30	Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM · Public	$10,322	$74,953	1 yrs
31	Duke University Durham, NC · Private	$7,160	$63,970	1 yrs
32	University of Houston-Victoria Victoria, TX · Public	$10,631	$77,087	1 yrs
33	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Private	$8,457	$70,051	1 yrs
34	Berea College Berea, KY · Private	$6,551	$61,814	1 yrs
35	San Diego State University San Diego, CA · Public	$14,698	$87,377	1.1 yrs
36	California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA · Public	$14,309	$88,074	1.1 yrs
37	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	$13,275	$81,929	1.1 yrs
38	Mercy University Dobbs Ferry, NY · Private	$17,281	$97,959	1.1 yrs
39	California State University-Chico Chico, CA · Public	$16,738	$95,797	1.1 yrs
40	Fresno Pacific University Fresno, CA · Private	$18,293	$100,849	1.1 yrs
41	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$70,783	1.1 yrs
42	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$70,783	1.1 yrs
43	Governors State University University Park, IL · Public	$12,810	$81,491	1.1 yrs
44	California State University-Channel Islands Camarillo, CA · Public	$16,151	$89,613	1.2 yrs
45	Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN · Private	$18,683	$97,071	1.2 yrs
46	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$75,313	1.2 yrs
47	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$70,783	1.2 yrs
48	San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public	$17,338	$92,277	1.2 yrs
49	University of West Florida Pensacola, FL · Public	$7,301	$58,454	1.2 yrs
50	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	$9,394	$66,369	1.2 yrs

Top Earners in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.