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

The standout feature here is the debt: at under $10,000, Robeson Community College produces nursing graduates who carry roughly half the typical North Carolina nursing debt and less than half the national average. That's a meaningful advantage for students at a school where nearly half receive Pell grants.

The earnings picture requires some explanation due to the small sample size. That eye-catching $77,475 first-year figure puts graduates well above both state and national medians, ranking in the 60th percentile among North Carolina's 59 nursing programs. However, the sharp drop to $53,517 by year four likely reflects the limitations of tracking a small cohort—perhaps some graduates shifted to part-time work, left the workforce temporarily, or the sample captured only a subset of the class. With fewer than 30 graduates in the data, individual circumstances can swing the numbers dramatically.

For planning purposes, focus on the debt advantage and the solid first-year placement rather than the four-year figure, which probably doesn't represent the typical graduate's trajectory. North Carolina's nursing market is strong, and graduates here appear to enter it successfully. The minimal debt load means your child would have financial flexibility early in their career—a significant benefit even if their earnings follow a more typical nursing salary progression than these particular numbers suggest.