Which Connecticut nursing program has the lowest debt?

Southern Connecticut State reports the lowest median federal debt, $25,837, with first-year pay of $87,795.

How much do nursing graduates earn in Connecticut?

The median across 11 Connecticut nursing bachelor's programs is $87,795 in the first year after graduating and $96,354 five years after. Registered nurses in Connecticut earn a median of $102,740 across all experience levels.

How many nursing bachelor's programs are in Connecticut?

11 Connecticut programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

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

11 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Connecticut nursing bachelor's program pays its graduates $87,795 in their first year, $13,357 more than the national median. University of Hartford reports the highest first-year pay ($106,348), and Southern Connecticut State the lowest median debt ($25,837).

Median first-year pay$87,795National $74,438

Median pay after 5 years$96,354National $81,525

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

Debt-to-earnings32%National 36%

All 11 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	University of HartfordWest Hartford · private nonprofit	$106,348	$107,755	$26,062	25%
2	Fairfield UniversityFairfield · private nonprofit	$91,418	$100,140	$27,000	30%
3	Sacred Heart UniversityFairfield · private nonprofit	$90,830	$101,121	$27,000	30%
4	University of BridgeportBridgeport · private nonprofit	$89,752	Not reported	$31,000	35%
5	Goodwin UniversityEast Hartford · private nonprofit	$89,747	$101,664	$48,455	54%
6	Southern Connecticut StateNew Haven · public	$87,795	$92,153	$25,837	29%
7	Western Connecticut StateDanbury · public	$86,600	$93,863	$26,000	30%
8	University of Saint JosephWest Hartford · private nonprofit	$86,555	$91,862	$30,990	36%
9	UConnStorrs · public	$84,969	$93,828	$27,000	32%
10	Quinnipiac UniversityHamden · private nonprofit	$84,856	$98,844	$27,000	32%
11	Central Connecticut StateNew Britain · public	$83,012	$90,180	$26,236	32%

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 Connecticut nursing program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 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 Connecticut

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

Registered Nurses

$102,740

Median pay in Connecticut. 40,110 people work in this job in Connecticut. 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%: $80,350Top 10%: $134,870

Common questions

University of Hartford in West Hartford reports the highest median first-year pay, $106,348. Its median federal debt is $26,062.

Nursing (BSN) programs in the US, ranked895 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 Connecticut 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