Centra College Nursing (BSN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Private nonprofit college
- Lynchburg, VA
- About 11 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Centra College nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most nursing programs nationally, $80,832 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $15,185 in federal loans, less than at 96% of nursing programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying nursing degrees in Virginia.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Virginia and national columns are the medians across all nursing bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Virginia nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Virginia medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $161 a month, or 2.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (28 of 31) were working in Virginia one year after graduating. Prices in the Lynchburg area are about 11% below the national average, so a $80,832 salary here buys what about $90,454 buys in a typical US city.
The median Virginia RN earns $93,600, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for Virginia prices, that pay is worth about $92,578, which puts Virginia behind.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to nursing, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Registered Nurses
$93,600Median pay in Virginia. 77,490 people work in this job in Virginia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Medical and Health Services Managers
$129,270Median pay in Virginia. 10,210 people work in this job in Virginia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Nurse Practitioners
$127,810Median pay in Virginia. 7,110 people work in this job in Virginia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 41% from 2025 to 2035, with about 29,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
Nurse Anesthetists
$252,110Median pay in Virginia. 700 people work in this job in Virginia. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About Centra College
Nursing is the only bachelor's program at Centra College that reports first-year earnings.
Other nursing bachelor's programs near Lynchburg
Common questions
The median graduate earns $80,832 one year after graduating. Registered nurses in the Lynchburg metro area earn a median of $80,450 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $15,185, which ranks 2nd lowest of 18 nursing bachelor's programs in Virginia. That works out to about $161 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 19% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 36%.
Most do. 90% (28 of 31) were working in Virginia one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Virginia comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the nursing program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024