Master's · Harrisonburg, Virginia

Is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at James Madison 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 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $114,567; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $114,701; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $26,387; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $28k (likely $28k – $28k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $47k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in VA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1 years (likely 0.7–1.4); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $271k (likely $131k – $439k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $701k (likely $431k – $1.04M); Today's dollars

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