Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Eastern Florida State College

A state college nursing program with a debt-to-earnings ratio under 0.3 typically signals solid workforce preparation, and Eastern Florida State College appears to fit this pattern. Based on comparable nursing programs at Florida public colleges, graduates here likely face around $19,934 in debt while entering a field where first-year earnings hover near $76,500. That's roughly $6,000 less than what top-performing community college nursing programs in the state produce, but still aligned with Florida's overall nursing market.

The gap matters because nursing is one of the clearest examples where all bachelor's degrees in a field aren't equal—nearby Valencia College and Miami Dade College nursing graduates are clearing over $90,000 in their first year. That $14,000-$17,000 difference compounds over a career. Whether that gap reflects differences in hospital networks, clinical placement sites, or simply which graduates the data captures isn't clear from these estimates.

For parents, the practical math still works: even at the estimated earnings level, debt would consume just three months of gross income, leaving plenty of runway for the salary growth nursing typically offers. But if your student can access one of the higher-performing programs—many of which are also public colleges with similar costs—that's worth exploring before committing. The field rewards the credential, but the specific program's outcomes can vary substantially even within the same metro area.