Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at North Arkansas College

North Arkansas College's nursing graduates start at $58,258—about $9,000 below the state median and nearly in the bottom 5% nationally. This matters because nursing is typically one of the most reliable career paths in healthcare, yet this program's outcomes trail not just elite competitors but the typical Arkansas nursing program. Compare this to Phillips Community College graduates who earn $78,213 or even Arkansas State's $70,358, and you're looking at a $12,000-$20,000 annual gap that compounds over a career.

The debt load is manageable at $13,213, creating a reasonable 0.23 debt-to-earnings ratio that graduates can handle. However, that advantage gets overshadowed by flat career trajectory—earnings actually dip slightly to $57,699 by year four. In nursing, where experience typically commands higher pay and specialized roles open up, stagnant earnings suggest graduates may be hitting a ceiling or working in lower-paying clinical settings.

The middle-of-the-pack state ranking (40th percentile) confirms this isn't catastrophically underperforming, but for a profession with strong demand and typically reliable salary growth, you'd want to see your child positioned better. If North Arkansas College is the only nearby option, the low debt makes it workable, but students who can access programs like Phillips or Arkansas State-Newport will likely see meaningfully better returns on similar training.