University of Saint Mary Nursing (BSN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
  • Private nonprofit university
  • Leavenworth, KS
  • About 62 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

University of Saint Mary nursing graduates earn about what nursing graduates earn nationally, $70,349 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $29,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $27,000. Several Kansas programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$70,34926th percentile of 895 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$81,61716% more than year one
Median federal debt$29,00012th lowest of 15 Kansas programs
Debt-to-earnings41%Kansas median 40%, national 36%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Kansas and national columns are the medians across all nursing bachelor's programs that report the figure.

Five years out, University of Saint Mary graduates earn about the national figure and about $7,239 more than the Kansas median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Kansas nursing program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Kansas medians.

University of Saint MaryOther Kansas programs

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 16% between the first and fifth year. Registered nurses in Kansas earn a median of $79,320 across all experience levels.

University of Saint Mary grads, year 1$70,349
University of Saint Mary grads, year 5$81,617
All Kansas nursing grads, year 5$74,379
All registered nurses in Kansas$79,320
Registered nurses in Kansas City metro$83,040

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 $2,151 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.

Pell Grant recipients, year 1 earnings$68,448Median debt $39,500
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$70,599Median debt $26,500

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $307 a month, or 5.2% 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

56% of graduates (42 of 75) were working in Kansas one year after graduating. Prices in the Kansas City area are about 7% below the national average, so a $70,349 salary here buys what about $76,018 buys in a typical US city.

The median Kansas RN earns $79,320, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for Kansas prices, that pay is worth about $88,067, which puts Kansas 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

$79,320

Median pay in Kansas. 33,800 people work in this job in Kansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $63,180Top 10%: $100,840

Medical and Health Services Managers

$111,030

Median pay in Kansas. 5,120 people work in this job in Kansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $68,980Top 10%: $192,970

Nurse Practitioners

$126,650

Median pay in Kansas. 3,780 people work in this job in Kansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $98,330Top 10%: $158,080

Nurse Anesthetists

$212,090

Median pay in Kansas. 910 people work in this job in Kansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $166,080Top 10%: $243,000

About University of Saint Mary

Nursing ranks 1st of 7 bachelor's programs at University of Saint Mary by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,349), Criminology ($42,633), and Teacher Education ($41,669).

Other nursing bachelor's programs near Leavenworth

Common questions

The median graduate earns $70,349 one year after graduating and $81,617 five years after. Registered nurses in the Kansas City metro area earn a median of $83,040 across all experience levels.

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 Kansas 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

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