Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Colby-Sawyer College

Colby-Sawyer's nursing graduates start strong with $78,856 in first-year earnings—above both the national and New Hampshire medians—but then see their pay slip to $74,856 by year four. This backward trajectory is unusual in nursing, where experience typically commands higher compensation. Among New Hampshire's nine nursing programs, this places Colby-Sawyer solidly in the middle, trailing Southern New Hampshire by nearly $7,000 but ahead of the state's public options.

The $27,000 median debt matches both national and state averages, creating a manageable 0.34 debt-to-earnings ratio at graduation. For context, a nurse earning $78,856 can reasonably handle this debt load. The real question is why earnings decline rather than grow—this could reflect graduates moving into lower-paying settings, working reduced hours by choice, or regional job market constraints in northern New Hampshire.

For families prioritizing immediate employment outcomes, this program delivers competitive starting salaries with reasonable debt. However, if you're banking on your child's earnings climbing steadily through their twenties as they gain experience, the data here tells a different story. The lack of earnings growth should prompt questions about career trajectories and whether graduates are finding positions that reward experience with raises.