Edgecombe Community College Nursing (ADN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Associate's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
  • Public college
  • Tarboro, NC
  • About 38 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Edgecombe Community College nursing graduates earn about what nursing graduates earn nationally, $66,322 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $26,683 in federal loans, more than at 77% of nursing programs in the country. Several North Carolina programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$66,32235th percentile of 845 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$66,286About the same as year one
Median federal debt$26,68336th lowest of 36 North Carolina programs
Debt-to-earnings40%North Carolina median 21%, national 29%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The North Carolina and national columns are the medians across all nursing associate's programs that report the figure.

Five years out, Edgecombe Community College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $3,942 less than the North Carolina median.

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina nursing program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the North Carolina medians.

Edgecombe Community CollegeOther North Carolina programs

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

What graduates earn over time

Pay is about the same in the first and fifth year. Registered nurses in North Carolina earn a median of $84,350 across all experience levels, which shows how much room there is to grow after the first few years.

Edgecombe Community College grads, year 1$66,322
Edgecombe Community College grads, year 5$66,286
All North Carolina nursing grads, year 5$70,228
All registered nurses in North Carolina$84,350
Registered nurses in Rocky Mount metro$82,300

Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate. BLS figures cover registered nurses at every experience level.

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $283 a month, or 5.1% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

100% of graduates (31 of 31) were working in North Carolina one year after graduating. Prices in the Rocky Mount area are about 12% below the national average, so a $66,322 salary here buys what about $75,356 buys in a typical US city.

The median North Carolina RN earns $84,350, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for North Carolina prices, that pay is worth about $89,424, which puts North Carolina 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

$84,350

Median pay in North Carolina. 111,120 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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.

Bottom 10%: $67,660Top 10%: $110,220

Medical and Health Services Managers

$114,410

Median pay in North Carolina. 14,820 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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.

Bottom 10%: $70,680Top 10%: $217,420

Nurse Practitioners

$128,990

Median pay in North Carolina. 9,800 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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.

Bottom 10%: $103,530Top 10%: $164,320

Nurse Anesthetists

$224,610

Median pay in North Carolina. 3,340 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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.

Bottom 10%: $117,170Top 10%: $323,640

About Edgecombe Community College

Nursing ranks 1st of 3 associate's programs at Edgecombe Community College by first-year earnings. The others are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($60,003) and Teacher Education ($22,259).

Other nursing associate's programs near Tarboro

Common questions

The median graduate earns $66,322 one year after graduating and $66,286 five years after. Registered nurses in the Rocky Mount metro area earn a median of $82,300 across all experience levels.

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 North Carolina 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

Related pages