Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Concordia University-Saint Paul

Concordia University-Saint Paul's nursing program sits squarely in the middle of Minnesota's competitive nursing education landscape—ranking at the 40th percentile statewide with $73,235 in first-year earnings. That's about $2,300 below both the state median ($75,577) and national median ($74,888). While these numbers aren't exceptional, the real story here is the debt side of the equation. Graduates leave owing $36,940—roughly $8,000 more than typical Minnesota nursing grads—which creates a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.50 that's manageable but not particularly attractive.

The program does what it needs to do: it produces employed nurses earning solidly middle-class salaries. Your child won't be an outlier either way—they'll earn about what most Minnesota nursing graduates earn, just while carrying moderately higher debt. The 75% admission rate and Pell grant enrollment suggest accessibility, which matters for families concerned about getting in, but the financial outcome is essentially average.

For families focused purely on return on investment, programs like Minnesota State University Moorhead deliver similar outcomes with lower debt, or you could pay slightly more to attend Saint Mary's or Augsburg for meaningfully higher earnings. Concordia works if your child is already drawn to this campus for other reasons, but the numbers alone don't make a compelling case over state alternatives.