Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at University of Alaska Anchorage

A nursing associate's degree from UAA comes with an estimated debt load of around $19,000—manageable for a healthcare credential, particularly given the favorable 0.27 debt-to-earnings ratio based on comparable programs nationally. However, there's a puzzling gap in the data: estimated first-year earnings of $68,000 drop to $54,926 four years out. This backward trajectory is unusual for nursing, where wages typically climb with experience. It's unclear whether this reflects actual retention issues specific to UAA graduates, quirks in Alaska's nursing market, or simply the limitations of comparing estimated versus actual figures across different time periods.

The bigger concern is how UAA's estimated outcomes compare within Alaska itself. Charter College's nursing graduates report first-year earnings of $83,000—about $15,000 more than what similar programs nationally suggest UAA graduates might earn. For context, Alaska's median for nursing associate's degrees sits at that higher $83,000 mark, indicating that top performers in the state command significantly better compensation than the national baseline used to estimate UAA's figures.

For parents, the core question is whether UAA can deliver Alaska-level outcomes or whether graduates will struggle to reach the higher earning potential that Alaska's healthcare market typically offers. The modest debt is a plus, but without actual earnings data for this specific program, you're essentially betting on whether UAA's nursing training can compete with programs that do demonstrate strong placement into Alaska's premium-wage healthcare jobs.