Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Hawkeye Community College

Hawkeye's nursing graduates earn nearly $7,000 less than the typical Iowa nursing graduate—a concerning gap when the program's primary appeal should be preparing students for Iowa's healthcare market. At the median, students here make $58,835 in their first year, placing them in just the 40th percentile statewide. That means six in ten Iowa nursing programs deliver better starting salaries, including nearby Kirkwood Community College where graduates earn $5,600 more annually.

The earnings trajectory compounds the problem: graduates see their income drop by 7% between years one and four, falling to $54,818. This isn't typical for nursing, where experience usually translates to raises and specialized opportunities. The debt load of $26,983 isn't catastrophic—it's actually below the state median—but when paired with below-average earnings, you're looking at a debt-to-earnings ratio that takes longer to overcome than at competing programs.

For an Iowa family, this represents a clear value gap. Your child could attend Iowa Western or Kirkwood and likely graduate with similar debt but earn $6,000-7,000 more right from the start. In nursing, where licensing standards are consistent across schools, that earnings difference matters more than in fields where institutional prestige drives salaries. Unless location constraints make Hawkeye the only viable option, other Iowa community colleges offer meaningfully better returns.