Which Alabama nursing program has the lowest debt?

Auburn University reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,449, with first-year pay of $67,120.

How much do nursing graduates earn in Alabama?

The median across 12 Alabama nursing bachelor's programs is $66,732 in the first year after graduating and $74,217 five years after. Registered nurses in Alabama earn a median of $77,080 across all experience levels.

How many nursing bachelor's programs are in Alabama?

12 Alabama programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

Nursing (BSN) Programs in Alabama, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

12 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Alabama nursing bachelor's program pays its graduates $66,732 in their first year, $7,706 less than the national median. Tuskegee University reports the highest first-year pay ($78,874), and Auburn University the lowest median debt ($20,449).

Median first-year pay$66,732National $74,438

Median pay after 5 years$74,217National $81,525

Median federal debt$25,378National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings38%National 36%

All 12 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Tuskegee UniversityTuskegee · private nonprofit	$78,874	$70,514	$31,000	39%
2	University of AlabamaTuscaloosa · public	$73,000	$80,311	$25,006	34%
3	Auburn University at MontgomeryMontgomery · public	$69,625	$78,443	$26,375	38%
4	University of South AlabamaMobile · public	$69,447	$70,878	$26,000	37%
5	Jacksonville StateJacksonville · public	$68,896	$76,445	$21,500	31%
6	Auburn UniversityAuburn · public	$67,120	$71,237	$20,449	30%
7	Troy UniversityTroy · public	$66,344	$74,217	$25,000	38%
8	University of MobileMobile · private nonprofit	$66,307	Not reported	$31,000	47%
9	UABBirmingham · public	$65,173	$84,228	$21,911	34%
10	Samford UniversityBirmingham · private nonprofit	$64,226	$71,186	$25,750	40%
11	University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville · public	$63,036	$70,913	$28,500	45%
12	University of North AlabamaFlorence · public	$61,137	$78,078	$25,000	41%

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.

Debt and first-year pay at every Alabama nursing program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

What registered nurses earn in Alabama

Pay for registered nurses in Alabama, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Registered Nurses

$77,080

Median pay in Alabama. 54,340 people work in this job in Alabama. 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%: $58,150Top 10%: $98,910

Common questions

Tuskegee University in Tuskegee reports the highest median first-year pay, $78,874. Its median federal debt is $31,000.

Nursing (BSN) programs in the US, ranked895 programs by pay and debt Nursing (ADN) programs in Alabama, ranked22 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Alabama rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the nursing bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024