Nursing Administration Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Nursing Administration maps to BLS occupations averaging about $64,987, with roughly 1,596,050 workers nationwide in those roles. About 715 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $9,860.
Key Statistics
Nursing Administration: what the data shows
Common questions about nursing administration degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a nursing administration degree?
A Nursing Administration program is classified under NCES CIP 51.3802 in the Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing field family (51.38).
A program that prepares registered nurses to manage nursing personnel and services in hospitals and other health care delivery agencies. Includes instruction in principles of health care administration, resource and financial management, health care law and policy, medical personnel management, and managed care operations
IPEDS counted 715 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of nursing administration degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 51.38 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Adult Health Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3803)
- Clinical Nurse Leader (CIP 51.3820)
- Clinical Nurse Specialist (CIP 51.3813)
- Critical Care Nursing (CIP 51.3814)
- Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing (CIP 51.3816)
- Family Practice Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3805)
- Forensic Nursing (CIP 51.3824)
- Geriatric Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3821)
- Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3806)
- Nurse Anesthetist (CIP 51.3804)
- Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery (CIP 51.3807)
- Nursing Education (CIP 51.3817)
- Nursing Practice (CIP 51.3818)
- Nursing Science (CIP 51.3808)
- Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing (CIP 51.3815)
- Palliative Care Nursing (CIP 51.3819)
- Pediatric Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3809)
- Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3812)
- Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3810)
- Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3811)
- Registered Nursing (CIP 51.3801)
- Women's Health Nurse/Nursing (CIP 51.3822)
How long does it take to get a nursing administration degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.3802 in our file:
- 715 Bachelor's (10.4% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 6,133 Master's (89.2% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 29 Doctorate (0.4% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in nursing administration?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Teachers, Postsecondary (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a nursing administration degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Nursing Administration to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | 1,500,000 | — |
| Secondary School Teachers | 1,072,540 | $64,580 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a nursing administration degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing bachelor's program family: median debt $21,490, median earnings $88,910 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.29.
About 1.2% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $9,860 and median net price is $20,566.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Nursing Administration and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$9,860 Median In-State Public
$35,640 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Nursing Administration majors are, on average, $9,860 for in-state public colleges, and $35,640 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Nursing Administration programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
715 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Nursing Administration from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Nursing Administration.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 68,619 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,398 |
| 3 | University of Central Florida | FL | 59,095 |
| 4 | Liberty University | VA | 50,059 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion | AZ | 49,000 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Nursing Administration programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fullerton College | CA | $1,150 |
| 2 | Pasadena City College | CA | $1,180 |
| 3 | Chaffey College | CA | $1,184 |
| 4 | Crafton Hills College | CA | $1,188 |
| 5 | Orange Coast College | CA | $1,208 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Nursing Administration programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry Ford College | MI | $576 |
| 2 | Cerritos College | CA | $693 |
| 3 | Talmudical Seminary of Bobov | NY | $1,525 |
| 4 | Yeshiva Karlin Stolin | NY | $2,060 |
| 5 | CUNY Hunter College | NY | $2,446 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Nursing Administration programs.
Graduation Rates
51.94% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
51.72% Average Graduation Rate
1,267 Institutions Reporting
38.34% - 64.34% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Nursing Administration programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Nursing Administration is in CT (300 completions). That state represents about 42.0% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is CT (0.61% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| CT | 300 | 42.0% | 0.61% |
| UT | 293 | 41.0% | 0.27% |
| KS | 53 | 7.4% | 0.14% |
| MI | 28 | 3.9% | 0.02% |
| MN | 27 | 3.8% | 0.03% |
| NY | 9 | 1.3% | 0.00% |
| KY | 3 | 0.4% | 0.01% |
| WI | 2 | 0.3% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 51.38 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Adult Health Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3803
- Clinical Nurse Leader CIP 51.3820
- Clinical Nurse Specialist CIP 51.3813
- Critical Care Nursing CIP 51.3814
- Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing CIP 51.3816
- Family Practice Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3805
- Forensic Nursing CIP 51.3824
- Geriatric Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3821
- Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3806
- Nurse Anesthetist CIP 51.3804
- Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery CIP 51.3807
- Nursing Education CIP 51.3817
- Nursing Practice CIP 51.3818
- Nursing Science CIP 51.3808
- Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing CIP 51.3815
- Palliative Care Nursing CIP 51.3819
- Pediatric Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3809
- Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3812
- Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3810
- Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3811
- Registered Nursing CIP 51.3801
- Women's Health Nurse/Nursing CIP 51.3822
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.3802 in the survey year used in our extract (6,877 total across levels below).
- 715 Bachelor's (10.4% of IPEDS total)
- 6,133 Master's (89.2% of IPEDS total)
- 29 Doctorate (0.4% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $64,987. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Nursing Administration graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | $36,511 | 1,500,000 |
| Secondary School Teachers | $104,813 | 1,072,540 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing CIP family (602 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Nursing Administration graduate.
- $21,490 median federal loan debt among completers
- $88,910 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.29 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 1.2% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$40,621 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Nursing Administration majors is $40,621.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Nursing Administration majors.
Occupations by Share
1,596,050 2023 Workforce
The number of Nursing Administration graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Nursing Administration by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Nursing Administration in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Nursing Administration.
Age distribution for Nursing Administration degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
715 Total Degrees Awarded
81 Male (11.33%)
634 Female (88.67%)
Gender distribution of Nursing Administration degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
460 White (64.34%)
93 Black or African American (13.01%)
72 Hispanic or Latino (10.07%)
37 Asian (5.17%)
21 Two or More Races (2.94%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Nursing Administration degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Nursing Administration are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Nursing Administration.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Nursing Administration field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Nursing Administration majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Nursing Administration majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Nursing Administration majors.
About
A program that prepares registered nurses to manage nursing personnel and services in hospitals and other health care delivery agencies. Includes instruction in principles of health care administration, resource and financial management, health care law and policy, medical personnel management, and managed care operations
In 2023, 715 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Nursing Administration.
CIP Code
51.3802 - Nursing Administration
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $21,490 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $88,910, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.29. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Nursing Administration graduate.
Women earned 88.3% of 7,911 Nursing Administration completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $64,987. The largest mapped role by headcount is Teachers, Postsecondary (1,500,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $9,860 in-state at public colleges and $35,640 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.