Which Minnesota nursing program has the lowest debt?

University of Minnesota reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,500, with first-year pay of $72,929.

How much do nursing graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 23 Minnesota nursing bachelor's programs is $75,499 in the first year after graduating and $83,567 five years after. Registered nurses in Minnesota earn a median of $101,510 across all experience levels.

How many nursing bachelor's programs are in Minnesota?

23 Minnesota programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 23 of them also report federal debt.

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

23 programs report first-year pay
23 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 Minnesota nursing bachelor's program pays its graduates $75,499 in their first year, $1,061 more than the national median. Walden University reports the highest first-year pay ($88,877), and University of Minnesota the lowest median debt ($21,500).

Median first-year pay$75,499National $74,438

Median pay after 5 years$83,567National $81,525

Median federal debt$27,990National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings38%National 36%

All 23 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	Walden UniversityMinneapolis · private for-profit	$88,877	$97,647	$32,800	37%
2	Capella UniversityMinneapolis · private for-profit	$85,426	$96,740	$27,826	33%
3	Saint Mary's University of MinnesotaWinona · private nonprofit	$84,323	$101,087	$40,188	48%
4	Augsburg UniversityMinneapolis · private nonprofit	$80,574	$86,479	$23,441	29%
5	Minnesota State MoorheadMoorhead · public	$78,006	$88,205	$30,359	39%
6	Bemidji StateBemidji · public	$77,639	$79,411	$27,990	36%
7	Metropolitan State UniversitySaint Paul · public	$77,421	$92,966	$35,762	46%
8	St Catherine UniversitySaint Paul · private nonprofit	$76,084	$90,472	$32,610	43%
9	St Olaf CollegeNorthfield · private nonprofit	$76,078	$81,743	$27,000	35%
10	College of Saint BenedictSaint Joseph · private nonprofit	$75,656	$75,929	$27,000	36%
11	Minnesota State MankatoMankato · public	$75,655	$82,073	$25,257	33%
12	College of Saint ScholasticaDuluth · private nonprofit	$75,499	$84,270	$31,000	41%
13	Bethel University (Minnesota)Saint Paul · private nonprofit	$75,371	$82,863	$27,000	36%
14	Winona StateWinona · public	$75,313	$79,166	$26,252	35%
15	University of Northwestern-St PaulSaint Paul · private nonprofit	$75,121	$74,515	$31,000	41%
16	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud · private for-profit	$74,861	$94,955	$39,232	52%
17	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud · public	$74,111	$82,809	$29,000	39%
18	Concordia University-Saint PaulSaint Paul · private nonprofit	$73,235	Not reported	$36,940	50%
19	Concordia College at MoorheadMoorhead · private nonprofit	$73,174	$71,761	$27,000	37%
20	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis · public	$72,929	$84,707	$21,500	29%
21	Southwest Minnesota StateMarshall · public	$71,933	$84,871	$33,560	47%
22	Gustavus Adolphus CollegeSaint Peter · private nonprofit	$71,294	$75,297	$27,000	38%
23	Crown CollegeSaint Bonifacius · private nonprofit	$63,539	$60,399	$27,000	42%

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 Minnesota nursing program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 23 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Walden University$88,877
Capella University$85,426
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota$84,323
Augsburg University$80,574
Minnesota State Moorhead$78,006

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 Minnesota

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

Registered Nurses

$101,510

Median pay in Minnesota. 70,110 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $79,960Top 10%: $132,430

Common questions

Walden University in Minneapolis reports the highest median first-year pay, $88,877. Its median federal debt is $32,800.

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