Which Michigan nursing program has the lowest debt?

Macomb Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,750, with first-year pay of $69,619.

How much do nursing graduates earn in Michigan?

The median across 27 Michigan nursing associate's programs is $68,396 in the first year after graduating and $72,340 five years after. Registered nurses in Michigan earn a median of $94,300 across all experience levels.

How many nursing associate's programs are in Michigan?

27 Michigan programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 27 of them also report federal debt.

Nursing (ADN) Programs in Michigan, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

27 programs report first-year pay
27 also report federal debt
Associate'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 Michigan nursing associate's program pays its graduates $68,396 in their first year, $125 less than the national median. Jackson College reports the highest first-year pay ($75,953), and Macomb Community College the lowest median debt ($10,750).

Median first-year pay$68,396National $68,521

Median pay after 5 years$72,340National $74,126

Median federal debt$22,819National $20,423

Debt-to-earnings35%National 29%

All 27 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	Jackson CollegeJackson · public	$75,953	$73,339	$22,387	29%
2	Mid Michigan CollegeHarrison · public	$75,513	$71,912	$30,500	40%
3	Schoolcraft Community College DistrictLivonia · public	$74,889	Not reported	$26,676	36%
4	Mott Community CollegeFlint · public	$73,034	$84,016	$34,334	47%
5	Lake Michigan CollegeBenton Harbor · public	$71,432	$75,725	$16,423	23%
6	Henry Ford CollegeDearborn · public	$71,268	$76,157	$26,613	37%
7	Washtenaw Community CollegeAnn Arbor · public	$70,145	$73,371	$25,412	36%
8	Grand Rapids Community CollegeGrand Rapids · public	$69,764	$70,523	$19,991	29%
9	Macomb Community CollegeWarren · public	$69,619	$74,586	$10,750	15%
10	St Clair County Community CollegePort Huron · public	$69,590	$74,418	$21,009	30%
11	Monroe County Community CollegeMonroe · public	$69,336	$76,101	$19,850	29%
12	Lansing Community CollegeLansing · public	$69,093	$70,000	$28,310	41%
13	Oakland Community CollegeAuburn Hills · public	$68,856	$65,602	$16,010	23%
14	Montcalm Community CollegeSidney · public	$68,396	$77,166	$25,757	38%
15	Delta CollegeUniversity Center · public	$67,922	$71,328	$19,955	29%
16	Kirtland Community CollegeGrayling · public	$67,468	$70,550	$23,500	35%
17	Wayne County Community College DistrictDetroit · public	$67,080	$76,445	$24,487	37%
18	Kalamazoo Valley Community CollegeKalamazoo · public	$66,602	$72,767	$20,751	31%
19	Muskegon Community CollegeMuskegon · public	$65,793	$73,782	$19,789	30%
20	North Central Michigan CollegePetoskey · public	$65,070	$67,264	$14,483	22%
21	West Shore Community CollegeScottville · public	$64,846	$62,104	$26,561	41%
22	Glen Oaks Community CollegeCentreville · public	$64,466	$66,418	$13,764	21%
23	Northwestern Michigan CollegeTraverse City · public	$64,122	$66,994	$24,228	38%
24	Southwestern Michigan CollegeDowagiac · public	$64,034	$79,257	$22,254	35%
25	Gogebic Community CollegeIronwood · public	$62,485	$63,734	$16,500	26%
26	Ross Medical Education Center-BrightonBrighton · private for-profit	$61,959	$69,512	$39,162	63%
27	Bay de Noc Community CollegeEscanaba · public	$57,430	$71,324	$23,250	40%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan nursing program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 27 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Jackson College$75,953
Mid Michigan College$75,513
Schoolcraft Community College District$74,889
Mott Community College$73,034
Lake Michigan College$71,432

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 Michigan

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

Registered Nurses

$94,300

Median pay in Michigan. 104,950 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $77,260Top 10%: $116,710

Common questions

Jackson College in Jackson reports the highest median first-year pay, $75,953. Its median federal debt is $22,387.

Nursing (ADN) programs in the US, ranked845 programs by pay and debt Nursing (BSN) programs in Michigan, ranked23 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 Michigan rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the nursing associate'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