Master's · Waterloo, Iowa

Is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Allen College worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.4 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $123,144; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $134,898; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $45,309; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $48k (likely $48k – $48k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $71k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in IA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.4 years (likely 1.1–1.7); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $494k (likely $384k – $630k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $1.30M (likely $1.06M – $1.60M); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.