Which Massachusetts nursing program has the lowest debt?

Boston College reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,250, with first-year pay of $78,934.

How much do nursing graduates earn in Massachusetts?

The median across 21 Massachusetts nursing bachelor's programs is $79,889 in the first year after graduating and $89,777 five years after. Registered nurses in Massachusetts earn a median of $104,550 across all experience levels.

How many nursing bachelor's programs are in Massachusetts?

21 Massachusetts programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 21 of them also report federal debt.

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

21 programs report first-year pay
21 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 Massachusetts nursing bachelor's program pays its graduates $79,889 in their first year, $5,451 more than the national median. Framingham State reports the highest first-year pay ($95,426), and Boston College the lowest median debt ($13,250).

Median first-year pay$79,889National $74,438

Median pay after 5 years$89,777National $81,525

Median federal debt$27,916National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings36%National 36%

All 21 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	Framingham StateFramingham · public	$95,426	Not reported	$23,000	24%
2	Laboure College of HealthcareMilton · private nonprofit	$86,071	$89,636	$38,750	45%
3	Simmons UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$85,096	$84,018	$27,916	33%
4	College of Our Lady of the ElmsChicopee · private nonprofit	$83,775	$92,829	$27,000	32%
5	MGH Institute of Health ProfessionsBoston · private nonprofit	$81,868	$88,862	$32,000	39%
6	UMass AmherstAmherst · public	$81,452	$89,364	$29,548	36%
7	Westfield StateWestfield · public	$81,136	$86,414	$26,900	33%
8	Salem StateSalem · public	$80,641	$89,918	$28,500	35%
9	Fitchburg StateFitchburg · public	$80,228	$88,660	$27,000	34%
10	Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesBoston · private nonprofit	$80,034	$87,779	$34,000	42%
11	American International CollegeSpringfield · private nonprofit	$79,889	$88,785	$37,500	47%
12	UMass BostonBoston · public	$79,672	$94,210	$30,343	38%
13	Curry CollegeMilton · private nonprofit	$79,242	$89,567	$27,000	34%
14	Boston CollegeChestnut Hill · private nonprofit	$78,934	$97,435	$13,250	17%
15	Northeastern UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$78,713	$90,411	$31,000	39%
16	Endicott CollegeBeverly · private nonprofit	$78,594	$94,982	$27,000	34%
17	Regis CollegeWeston · private nonprofit	$78,481	$95,500	$30,750	39%
18	UMass LowellLowell · public	$78,247	$93,215	$27,000	35%
19	UMass DartmouthNorth Dartmouth · public	$75,659	$86,771	$27,000	36%
20	Worcester StateWorcester · public	$75,249	$89,927	$26,849	36%
21	Anna Maria CollegePaxton · private nonprofit	$75,045	$95,333	$30,954	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 Massachusetts nursing program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 21 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Framingham State$95,426
Laboure College of Healthcare$86,071
Simmons University$85,096
College of Our Lady of the Elms$83,775
MGH Institute of Health Professions$81,868

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 Massachusetts

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

Registered Nurses

$104,550

Median pay in Massachusetts. 88,200 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $80,310Top 10%: $174,510

Common questions

Framingham State in Framingham reports the highest median first-year pay, $95,426. Its median federal debt is $23,000.

Nursing (BSN) programs in the US, ranked895 programs by pay and debt Nursing (ADN) programs in Massachusetts, ranked17 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 Massachusetts 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