Master's · Chattanooga, Tennessee

Is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga 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 1.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $187,655; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $140,746; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $57,562; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $61k (likely $61k – $61k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $82k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in TN; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.2 years (likely 0.9–1.4); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $594k (likely $470k – $751k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $1.37M (likely $1.13M – $1.68M); Today's dollars

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