Which Georgia nursing program has the lowest debt?

Georgia Highlands College reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,044, with first-year pay of $83,986.

How much do nursing graduates earn in Georgia?

The median across 34 Georgia nursing bachelor's programs is $76,317 in the first year after graduating and $81,487 five years after. Registered nurses in Georgia earn a median of $93,550 across all experience levels.

How many nursing bachelor's programs are in Georgia?

34 Georgia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 33 of them also report federal debt.

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

34 programs report first-year pay
33 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 Georgia nursing bachelor's program pays its graduates $76,317 in their first year, $1,879 more than the national median. East Georgia State College reports the highest first-year pay ($84,669), and Georgia Highlands College the lowest median debt ($16,044).

Median first-year pay$76,317National $74,438

Median pay after 5 years$81,487National $81,525

Median federal debt$26,298National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings34%National 36%

All 34 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	East Georgia State CollegeSwainsboro · public	$84,669	Not reported	$19,031	22%
2	Georgia Highlands CollegeRome · public	$83,986	Not reported	$16,044	19%
3	Clayton StateMorrow · public	$82,714	$93,169	$37,783	46%
4	Reinhardt UniversityWaleska · private nonprofit	$81,266	Not reported	$30,275	37%
5	Brenau UniversityGainesville · private nonprofit	$80,786	$106,944	$42,187	52%
6	Kennesaw StateKennesaw · public	$80,560	$83,064	$25,093	31%
7	Georgia Gwinnett CollegeLawrenceville · public	$80,074	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Emory UniversityAtlanta · private nonprofit	$79,073	$89,034	$25,000	32%
9	Dalton State CollegeDalton · public	$78,830	$91,520	$17,312	22%
10	Georgia StateAtlanta · public	$78,165	$81,487	$26,430	34%
11	Georgia CollegeMilledgeville · public	$78,087	$75,858	$25,000	32%
12	Gordon State CollegeBarnesville · public	$77,695	$74,101	$22,151	29%
13	South University-SavannahSavannah · private for-profit	$77,635	$90,784	$41,815	54%
14	Albany StateAlbany · public	$77,491	$108,162	$32,324	42%
15	University of West GeorgiaCarrollton · public	$77,140	$92,868	$25,000	32%
16	Mercer UniversityMacon · private nonprofit	$76,787	$79,324	$29,161	38%
17	Abraham Baldwin Agricultural CollegeTifton · public	$76,557	Not reported	$26,298	34%
18	LaGrange CollegeLagrange · private nonprofit	$76,077	$77,828	$26,000	34%
19	Georgia Southwestern StateAmericus · public	$76,025	$85,821	$24,250	32%
20	University of North GeorgiaDahlonega · public	$75,412	$84,545	$19,743	26%
21	Berry CollegeMount Berry · private nonprofit	$75,343	$77,243	$26,250	35%
22	Columbus StateColumbus · public	$74,454	$82,023	$30,980	42%
23	Augusta UniversityAugusta · public	$74,307	$80,407	$22,956	31%
24	Thomas UniversityThomasville · private nonprofit	$74,176	$93,635	$31,188	42%
25	College of Coastal GeorgiaBrunswick · public	$73,587	$75,332	$20,543	28%
26	Piedmont UniversityDemorest · private nonprofit	$73,416	$78,610	$29,875	41%
27	Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboro · public	$72,741	$78,490	$27,277	37%
28	Valdosta StateValdosta · public	$71,395	$78,057	$27,301	38%
29	Middle Georgia StateMacon · public	$70,650	$80,931	$23,000	33%
30	Wesleyan CollegeMacon · private nonprofit	$70,482	$73,622	$38,170	54%
31	South Georgia State CollegeDouglas · public	$69,156	Not reported	$19,740	29%
32	Shorter UniversityRome · private nonprofit	$69,009	$87,314	$26,942	39%
33	Truett McConnell UniversityCleveland · private nonprofit	$66,551	$77,094	$27,000	41%
34	Toccoa Falls CollegeToccoa Falls · private nonprofit	$64,949	Not reported	$27,628	43%

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.

Georgia Gwinnett College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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 the 33 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 Georgia

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

Registered Nurses

$93,550

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $68,920Top 10%: $128,640

Common questions

East Georgia State College in Swainsboro reports the highest median first-year pay, $84,669. Its median federal debt is $19,031.

Nursing (BSN) programs in the US, ranked895 programs by pay and debt Nursing (ADN) programs in Georgia, ranked24 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 Georgia 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