Mercy College of Health Sciences Nursing (ADN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Private nonprofit college
- Des Moines, IA
- About 26 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Mercy College of Health Sciences nursing graduates earn less than graduates of most nursing programs nationally, $63,867 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $37,286 in federal loans, more than at 97% of nursing programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying nursing degrees in Iowa.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Iowa and national columns are the medians across all nursing associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Mercy College of Health Sciences graduates earn less than the national figure and about $4,327 less than the Iowa median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa 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 falls about 7% between the first and fifth year. Registered nurses in Iowa earn a median of $78,630 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 $395 a month, or 7.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
95% of graduates (39 of 41) were working in Iowa one year after graduating. Prices in the Des Moines area are about 8% below the national average, so a $63,867 salary here buys what about $69,647 buys in a typical US city.
The median Iowa RN earns $78,630, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for Iowa prices, that pay is worth about $89,595, which puts Iowa 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
$78,630Median pay in Iowa. 34,420 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$101,940Median pay in Iowa. 6,200 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$130,160Median pay in Iowa. 3,240 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$273,070Median pay in Iowa. 380 people work in this job in Iowa. 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 Mercy College of Health Sciences
Nursing ranks 1st of 2 associate's programs at Mercy College of Health Sciences by first-year earnings. The other is Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($55,912).
Other nursing associate's programs near Des Moines
Common questions
The median graduate earns $63,867 one year after graduating and $59,453 five years after. Registered nurses in the Des Moines metro area earn a median of $78,630 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $37,286, which ranks 16th lowest of 16 nursing associate's programs in Iowa. That works out to about $395 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 58% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 29%. Compare the cost with other Iowa programs before deciding.
Most do. 95% (39 of 41) were working in Iowa 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 Iowa 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