Associate's · Louisville, Kentucky

Is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Galen College of Nursing-Louisville 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 0.3 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $81,557; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $86,991; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $24,166; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $9k (likely $9k – $12k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $50k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in KY; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 0.3 years (likely 0.2–0.3); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $416k (likely $387k – $442k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $959k (likely $890k – $1.04M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 44%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: 16% / 3.0%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20