Nursing (ADN) Programs in New Mexico, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 8 programs report first-year pay
- 7 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 New Mexico nursing associate's program pays its graduates $72,577 in their first year, $4,056 more than the national median. Santa Fe Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($79,098), and University of New Mexico the lowest median debt ($11,536).
All 8 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.
Southeast New Mexico College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.
Debt and first-year pay at every New Mexico nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New Mexico medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
- Santa Fe Community College$79,098
- New Mexico State$78,510
- Central New Mexico Community College$74,923
- Clovis Community College$73,387
- University of New Mexico$71,767
Lowest median debt
- University of New Mexico$11,536
- Clovis Community College$12,250
- New Mexico Junior College$13,472
- Central New Mexico Community College$14,519
- New Mexico State$16,467
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 New Mexico
Pay for registered nurses in New Mexico, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Registered Nurses
$94,340Median pay in New Mexico. 17,980 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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.
Common questions
Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe reports the highest median first-year pay, $79,098. Its median federal debt is $28,074.
University of New Mexico reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,536, with first-year pay of $71,767.
The median across 8 New Mexico nursing associate's programs is $72,577 in the first year after graduating and $79,548 five years after. Registered nurses in New Mexico earn a median of $94,340 across all experience levels.
8 New Mexico programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.
Related pages
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 New Mexico 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