US College Programs

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

  • 6 programs report first-year pay
  • 6 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 Nebraska nursing associate's program pays its graduates $63,938 in their first year, $4,584 less than the national median. Southeast Community College Area reports the highest first-year pay ($71,239), and Central Community College the lowest median debt ($14,805).

Median first-year pay$63,938National $68,521
Median pay after 5 years$71,247National $74,126
Median federal debt$18,468National $20,423
Debt-to-earnings28%National 29%

All 6 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.

Debt and first-year pay at every Nebraska nursing program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Southeast Community College Area$71,239
  2. Metropolitan Community College Area$68,874
  3. Central Community College$64,945
  4. Northeast Community College$62,930
  5. Western Nebraska Community College$62,413

Lowest median debt

  1. Central Community College$14,805
  2. Western Nebraska Community College$16,249
  3. Metropolitan Community College Area$17,882
  4. Northeast Community College$19,053
  5. Mid-Plains Community College$20,376

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Central Community College23%
  2. Metropolitan Community College Area26%
  3. Western Nebraska Community College26%
  4. Northeast Community College30%
  5. Mid-Plains Community College34%

"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 Nebraska

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

Registered Nurses

$84,730

Median pay in Nebraska. 24,720 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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%: $66,020Top 10%: $106,190

Common questions

Southeast Community College Area in Lincoln reports the highest median first-year pay, $71,239. Its median federal debt is $25,814.

Related pages

Nursing (ADN) programs in the US, ranked845 programs by pay and debtNursing (BSN) programs in Nebraska, ranked10 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 Nebraska 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024