New Mexico State Nursing (ADN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Public university
- Las Cruces, NM
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
New Mexico State nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most nursing programs nationally, $78,510 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $16,467 in federal loans, close to the national median of $20,423. It is one of the higher-paying nursing degrees in New Mexico.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New Mexico and national columns are the medians across all nursing associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, New Mexico State graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the New Mexico median.
Debt and first-year pay at every New Mexico nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New Mexico 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 2% between the first and fifth year. Registered nurses in New Mexico earn a median of $94,340 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 $175 a month, or 2.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
89% of graduates (33 of 37) were working in New Mexico one year after graduating. Prices in the Las Cruces area are about 10% below the national average, so a $78,510 salary here buys what about $87,028 buys in a typical US city.
The median New Mexico RN earns $94,340, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for New Mexico prices, that pay is worth about $102,308, which puts New Mexico slightly 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
$94,340Median pay in New Mexico. 17,980 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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
$124,300Median pay in New Mexico. 3,150 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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
$137,520Median pay in New Mexico. 1,770 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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
$129,370Median pay in New Mexico. 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 New Mexico State
Nursing ranks 1st of 8 associate's programs at New Mexico State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($78,510), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($56,196), and Data Processing ($38,559).
Other nursing associate's programs near Las Cruces
Common questions
The median graduate earns $78,510 one year after graduating and $80,465 five years after. Registered nurses in the Las Cruces metro area earn a median of $83,310 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $16,467, which ranks 5th lowest of 7 nursing associate's programs in New Mexico. That works out to about $175 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 21% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 29%.
Most do. 89% (33 of 37) were working in New Mexico 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 New Mexico 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