South University-Savannah Nursing (BSN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Private for-profit university
- Savannah, GA
- About 8 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
South University-Savannah nursing graduates earn about what nursing graduates earn nationally, $77,635 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $41,815 in federal loans, more than at 96% of nursing programs in the country. Several Georgia programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Georgia and national columns are the medians across all nursing bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, South University-Savannah graduates earn more than the national figure and about $9,297 more than the Georgia median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Georgia nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Georgia 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 17% between the first and fifth year. Registered nurses in Georgia earn a median of $93,550 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.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $5,356 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $443 a month, or 6.8% 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, 141 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $14,000.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
77% of graduates (769 of 1,002) were working in Georgia one year after graduating. Prices in the Savannah area are about 5% below the national average, so a $77,635 salary here buys what about $81,544 buys in a typical US city.
The median Georgia RN earns $93,550, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for Georgia prices, that pay is worth about $97,151, which puts Georgia 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
$93,550Median pay in Georgia. 100,950 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$131,910Median pay in Georgia. 11,130 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$129,430Median pay in Georgia. 10,460 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$224,630Median pay in Georgia. 1,170 people work in this job in Georgia. 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 South University-Savannah
Nursing ranks 1st of 9 bachelor's programs at South University-Savannah by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($77,635), Information Science ($44,682), and Business Administration ($43,773).
Other nursing bachelor's programs near Savannah
Common questions
The median graduate earns $77,635 one year after graduating and $90,784 five years after. Registered nurses in the Savannah metro area earn a median of $86,760 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $41,815, which ranks 32nd lowest of 33 nursing bachelor's programs in Georgia. That works out to about $443 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 54% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 36%. Compare the cost with other Georgia programs before deciding.
Most do. 77% (769 of 1,002) were working in Georgia 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 Georgia 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