Merced College Nursing (ADN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Public college
- Merced, CA
- About 54 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Merced College nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most nursing programs nationally, $107,024 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $12,750 in federal loans, less than at 88% of nursing programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying nursing degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all nursing associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Merced College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $12,397 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
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 rises about 7% between the first and fifth year. Registered nurses in California earn a median of $140,270 across all experience levels, which shows how much room there is to grow after the first few years.
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 $135 a month, or 1.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
99% of graduates (72 of 73) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Merced area are about 2% below the national average, so a $107,024 salary here buys what about $108,903 buys in a typical US city.
The median California RN earns $140,270, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for California prices, that pay is worth about $126,689, which puts California ahead.
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
$140,270Median pay in California. 338,940 people work in this job in California. 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
$141,480Median pay in California. 75,090 people work in this job in California. 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
$168,520Median pay in California. 25,120 people work in this job in California. 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
$292,410Median pay in California. 2,230 people work in this job in California. 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 Merced College
Nursing ranks 1st of 6 associate's programs at Merced College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($107,024), Practical Nursing ($47,114), and Psychology ($34,441).
Other nursing associate's programs near Merced
Common questions
The median graduate earns $107,024 one year after graduating and $114,563 five years after. Registered nurses in the Merced metro area earn a median of $131,620 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $12,750, which ranks 10th lowest of 50 nursing associate's programs in California. That works out to about $135 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 12% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 29%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 99% (72 of 73) were working in California 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 California 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