Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Lincoln University

Lincoln University's nursing program shows a troubling pattern: starting salaries near $62,000 that slip to $60,600 by year four. While that initial figure lands below both Missouri's median ($63,200) and the national benchmark ($68,400), the real concern is the backward trajectory. Missouri's top nursing programs—including St. Charles Community College and Saint Louis Community College—start graduates above $68,000, roughly $6,000 ahead of Lincoln's outcomes. Among Missouri's 24 nursing programs, this one ranks squarely in the middle (40th percentile), but that middle position comes with above-average debt.

The $32,500 debt burden here exceeds both the Missouri median ($21,188) and national average ($20,751) by more than 50%. That creates a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.52—manageable compared to many programs but steep when paired with declining earnings. For context, graduates at comparable Missouri community colleges typically carry $10,000 less debt while earning noticeably more.

If your child is committed to Lincoln for other reasons, this nursing program won't derail their career—nurses remain in demand and the debt is serviceable. But purely as an investment, Missouri offers stronger nursing pathways through community colleges that cost less and deliver better outcomes. The combination of higher-than-average debt and below-average earnings that drift lower suggests looking closely at alternatives before committing here.