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

The estimated $39,232 debt load stands out immediately—based on national medians for similar private institutions offering nursing bachelor's degrees, it's roughly 45% higher than both Kentucky's typical debt for this program ($28,250) and the national benchmark ($27,000). Meanwhile, peer programs in Kentucky suggest first-year earnings around $70,523, which aligns with the state median but trails the national figure by about $4,000. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.56 isn't catastrophic for nursing, but it means your child would be starting their career owing more than half a year's salary—a heavier burden than graduates from most other Kentucky nursing programs face.

What makes this harder to assess is that these figures aren't specific to Sullivan—both earnings and debt are estimated from comparable programs because graduate cohorts were too small to report publicly. The top-performing nursing programs in Kentucky are producing graduates who earn $76,000 to $83,000 in their first year, suggesting Sullivan's nursing graduates could potentially do better than the state median. But without actual outcomes data, you're essentially betting that Sullivan's program performs at least at the Kentucky average while carrying above-average debt.

For a family comfortable with some uncertainty and confident in their child's ability to secure strong nursing positions in Louisville's healthcare market, this could work. But if minimizing debt is a priority, other Kentucky nursing programs appear to offer clearer value propositions with lower typical borrowing and proven earning outcomes.