Samuel Merritt University Nursing (BSN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Private nonprofit university
- Oakland, CA
- About 511 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Samuel Merritt University nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most nursing programs nationally, $119,486 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $25,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $27,000. 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 bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Samuel Merritt University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $30,390 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.
Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 25% between the first and fifth year. Registered nurses in California earn a median of $140,270 across all experience levels.
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.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $29,136 against $25,000.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $265 a month, or 2.7% 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. Separately, 152 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $27,735.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
92% of graduates (667 of 723) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the San Francisco area are about 16% above the national average, so a $119,486 salary here buys what about $103,350 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 Samuel Merritt University
Nursing is the only bachelor's program at Samuel Merritt University that reports first-year earnings.
Other nursing bachelor's programs near Oakland
Common questions
The median graduate earns $119,486 one year after graduating and $148,857 five years after. Registered nurses in the San Francisco metro area earn a median of $186,610 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $25,000, which ranks 21st lowest of 35 nursing bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $265 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 21% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 36%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 2% or less.
Most do. 92% (667 of 723) 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