Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Bellevue College

Bellevue College nursing graduates earn nearly $100,000 in their first year—an impressive $12,000 above the Washington state median and far exceeding the national average. But there's a significant caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, meaning a handful of particularly successful nurses could be skewing the picture upward. The program ranks in the 60th percentile statewide, suggesting it performs solidly but isn't quite matching the top-tier Washington nursing programs.

The debt load of $20,379 is manageable given those strong starting earnings, creating a debt-to-income ratio of just 0.21. However, the 87th percentile national debt ranking reveals that most nursing programs nationwide actually graduate students with less debt—though Washington programs generally run higher than the national average anyway. For context, the state median debt is $23,225, so Bellevue comes in slightly better than typical for the region.

The small sample size is the real wild card here. These numbers could represent consistently strong outcomes, or they might reflect a few exceptional graduates rather than what typical students experience. If your child attends, they should connect with program advisors to understand actual placement rates and where recent graduates work—those conversations will matter more than these limited statistics. The fundamentals look promising, but verify before assuming these results are repeatable.