Santa Barbara City College Nursing (ADN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Public college
- Santa Barbara, CA
- About 68 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Santa Barbara City College nursing graduates earn more than graduates of most nursing programs nationally, $101,955 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $21,037 in federal loans, close to the national median of $20,423. 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, Santa Barbara City College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $3,880 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 4% 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 $223 a month, or 2.6% 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
96% of graduates (53 of 55) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Santa Maria area are about 9% above the national average, so a $101,955 salary here buys what about $93,710 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 Santa Barbara City College
Nursing ranks 1st of 3 associate's programs at Santa Barbara City College by first-year earnings. The others are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($75,024) and Health and Medical Administration ($48,712).
Other nursing associate's programs near Santa Barbara
Common questions
The median graduate earns $101,955 one year after graduating and $106,046 five years after. Registered nurses in the Santa Maria metro area earn a median of $137,360 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $21,037, which ranks 36th lowest of 50 nursing associate's programs in California. That works out to about $223 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%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay.
Most do. 96% (53 of 55) 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