Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Saint Francis University

Saint Francis University's nursing program lands squarely in the middle of Pennsylvania's competitive nursing landscape—both earnings and debt hover right around state medians, with graduates starting at $72,930 against $30,579 in debt. That's a solid 0.42 debt-to-earnings ratio, and notably, the debt burden here is actually lower than what most PA nursing programs saddle students with. The challenge is that new nurses here earn about $5,500 less than the state median and roughly $13,000 less than what graduates from nearby programs like Villanova or Drexel command.

The math still works for most families: nursing remains one of the most reliable career paths, and a debt load under $31,000 for a job paying nearly $73,000 is manageable. But Pennsylvania families should understand they're paying for a rural campus experience in Loretto rather than optimizing for first-year salary. The gap between Saint Francis and top PA programs isn't insurmountable—it's about one year's worth of extra earnings—but it exists. If your child has strong credentials (the school's 1151 average SAT suggests modest selectivity) and has been admitted to higher-performing PA nursing programs, the numbers favor those options. If Saint Francis offers a better financial aid package or your family values the small-school environment, the debt-to-earnings fundamentals here won't derail a nursing career.