Master's · Brookings, South Dakota

Is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at South Dakota State University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 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 1.7 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $109,613; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $117,503; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $46,250; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $49k (likely $49k – $49k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $54k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in SD; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.7 years (likely 1.3–2.4); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $328k (likely $175k – $495k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $933k (likely $613k – $1.28M); Today's dollars

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