Northeastern Junior College Nursing (ADN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Public college
- Sterling, CO
- About 1 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Northeastern Junior College nursing graduates earn about what nursing graduates earn nationally, $68,853 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $23,625 in federal loans, close to the national median of $20,423. Several Colorado programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Colorado and national columns are the medians across all nursing associate's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Colorado nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Colorado medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $250 a month, or 4.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the parts of Colorado outside metro areas are about 2% below the national average, so a $68,853 salary here buys what about $70,615 buys in a typical US city.
The median Colorado RN earns $100,260, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for Colorado prices, that pay is worth about $97,291, which puts Colorado slightly 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
$100,260Median pay in Colorado. 54,490 people work in this job in Colorado. 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
$134,910Median pay in Colorado. 8,400 people work in this job in Colorado. 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
$132,930Median pay in Colorado. 4,270 people work in this job in Colorado. 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
$236,590Median pay nationwide. 800 people work in this job in Colorado. 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 Northeastern Junior College
Nursing ranks 1st of 2 associate's programs at Northeastern Junior College by first-year earnings. The other is Liberal Arts and General Studies ($24,287).
Other nursing associate's programs near Sterling
Common questions
The median graduate earns $68,853 one year after graduating. Registered nurses in Colorado earn a median of $100,260 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $23,625, which ranks 7th lowest of 12 nursing associate's programs in Colorado. That works out to about $250 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 34% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 29%. Compare the cost with other Colorado programs before deciding.
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 Colorado 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