Associate's · Asheville, North Carolina

Is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Galen Health Institutes-Asheville 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 1.8 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: $61k (likely $61k – $84k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $50k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in NC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.8 years (likely 1.6–2.3); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $347k (likely $302k – $374k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $890k (likely $814k – $969k); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: 16% / 3.0%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20