Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at The College of the Florida Keys

Nursing programs at community colleges typically offer strong value, but this particular program sits just below the middle of the pack—landing at the 40th percentile among Florida nursing programs. The $63,813 first-year salary trails not just top-tier Florida programs like Broward College ($72,991) and Valencia College ($70,422), but also falls about $5,000 below the state median for associate nursing degrees.

The debt picture offers a silver lining: at $19,186, graduates owe roughly $6,500 less than the typical Florida nursing student. With a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.30, most graduates should manage repayment comfortably—though they're starting from a lower earning baseline than peers at comparable institutions. The 9% earnings bump by year four is modest but steady, suggesting stable career progression rather than rapid advancement.

The crucial caveat here is sample size—with fewer than 30 graduates in the data, these numbers could shift significantly with a larger cohort. For families considering this program, the real question is location: if you're committed to staying in the Keys, the lower debt matters. But if mobility isn't an issue, several Florida programs deliver substantially higher starting salaries for similar or only slightly higher debt loads, which could mean tens of thousands more in lifetime earnings.