Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

SUNY Alfred's nursing program costs less than most, but there's a catch New York parents should understand: first-year nurses here earn $77,300, which falls well short of the state's typical $89,300 for nursing grads. While this places the program above the national median, it sits in just the 40th percentile among New York's 61 nursing programs—meaning 60% of the state's nursing schools produce graduates who earn more out of the gate. The gap is substantial: top SUNY and CUNY nursing programs are launching graduates into six-figure salaries right away.

The debt picture offers some relief. At $26,000, it's slightly below both state and national medians, yielding a manageable 0.34 debt-to-earnings ratio. Your child would owe roughly one-third of their first year's salary—workable for a nursing career. The moderate sample size (30-100 graduates) suggests reasonably consistent outcomes.

The tradeoff is clear: this program won't maximize earning potential the way New York City-area schools do, but it won't saddle your child with crushing debt either. If staying upstate and avoiding higher debt loads matters more than commanding top-tier New York nursing salaries, Alfred delivers solid middle-ground value. But if maximizing earnings is the priority, the state's higher-ranked programs justify serious consideration, especially those in the SUNY and CUNY systems that combine strong salaries with public-school tuition.