Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Louisiana State University-Alexandria

LSU-Alexandria's nursing program shows an unusual earnings trajectory that deserves close attention. Graduates start strong at $71,014—above the national median—but by year four, earnings drop to $49,644. This 30% decline is the opposite of what you'd expect from a nursing degree, where experienced RNs typically command higher salaries.

Within Louisiana's nursing landscape, this program sits squarely in the middle at the 40th percentile, trailing schools like Southern-Shreveport ($78,352) and Fletcher Technical ($76,405) by roughly $7,000 in starting salary. The gap widens significantly by year four. That said, the debt load of $27,900 is reasonable for a nursing degree, translating to a manageable 0.39 debt-to-earnings ratio in that crucial first year.

The central question is what's driving that earnings drop—whether it's graduates switching to part-time work, leaving the profession, or moving to lower-paid healthcare roles. Without clarity on this pattern, you're essentially betting on that first-year salary window. If your child plans to work full-time in bedside nursing throughout their twenties, comparable Louisiana programs offer more stable earning trajectories. The admission data suggests this is an accessible option for students across income levels, but the earnings data suggests it may not be the strongest value in a state with several better-performing nursing programs.