Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Fortis College-Cincinnati

Fortis College-Cincinnati's nursing program shows a troubling pattern: graduates start strong at $69,200—outearning 60% of Ohio nursing programs—but see their income drop 8% by year four. That backward trajectory is unusual in nursing, where experience typically brings steady raises, and it raises questions about whether graduates are able to secure stable positions in higher-paying hospital settings versus cycling through lower-tier healthcare jobs.

The bigger concern is debt. At $42,650, graduates here carry more than double the debt load of typical Ohio nursing programs ($26,952 median) and roughly twice the national benchmark. With 78% of students receiving Pell grants, many families are taking on this burden with limited financial cushion. While the 0.62 debt-to-earnings ratio isn't catastrophic by national standards, it's steep for an associate degree in a field where community colleges routinely produce the same RN credential for half the cost—Sinclair Community College graduates earn nearly the same first-year salary with presumably far less debt.

The takeaway for parents: your child can likely access comparable or better nursing outcomes at a fraction of the cost through Ohio's public college system. Unless Fortis offers specific scheduling flexibility or support services your family critically needs, the premium you're paying here doesn't translate into premium earnings, especially once that four-year decline kicks in.