Best Healthcare Degrees by ROI in 2026

500 programs ranked · Updated 2026

Top healthcare and nursing programs ranked by earnings, AI resilience, and return on investment.

Programs Ranked
500
Avg Earnings
$79,391/yr
Avg DW Score
85/100
#1 Program
Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Stanislaus

Best Healthcare Degrees by ROI

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

# Program DW Score Earnings AI Risk ROI
1 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Stanislaus · Turlock, CA
91
88–91
$119,356/yr High 38.2x
2 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-San Bernardino · San Bernardino, CA
91
87–91
$93,142/yr High 34.7x
3 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Chico · Chico, CA
91
88–91
$113,181/yr High 36.4x
4 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Dominguez Hills · Carson, CA
91
88–91
$110,626/yr High 42.5x
5 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Fresno · Fresno, CA
91
88–91
$96,890/yr High 39.6x
6 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Fullerton · Fullerton, CA
91
88–91
$103,028/yr High 40.1x
7 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-East Bay · Hayward, CA
91
88–92
$124,392/yr High 56.0x
8 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Long Beach · Long Beach, CA
91
88–91
$100,178/yr High 39.6x
9 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Los Angeles · Los Angeles, CA
91
88–91
$98,811/yr High 43.1x
10 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Northridge · Northridge, CA
91
88–91
$106,780/yr High 41.1x
11 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Sacramento · Sacramento, CA
91
88–91
$116,001/yr High 44.6x
12 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
San Diego State University · San Diego, CA
91
87–91
$100,221/yr High 32.1x
13 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
San Francisco State University · San Francisco, CA
91
88–91
$117,532/yr High 47.6x
14 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Sonoma State University · Rohnert Park, CA
91
88–91
$125,646/yr High 39.1x
15 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Broward College · Fort Lauderdale, FL
91
87–90
$79,135/yr High 95.3x
16 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Thomas Edison State University · Trenton, NJ
91
87–91
$95,053/yr High 36.5x
17 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
New Mexico Highlands University · Las Vegas, NM
91
87–91
$88,137/yr High 36.0x
18 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
College of Staten Island CUNY · Staten Island, NY
91
88–91
$110,335/yr High 39.2x
19 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
CUNY Graduate School and University Center · New York, NY
91
88–91
$109,744/yr High 40.9x
20 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
CUNY Hunter College · New York, NY
91
88–91
$103,692/yr High 37.7x
21 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
CUNY Lehman College · Bronx, NY
91
88–91
$101,531/yr High 42.2x
22 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
CUNY Medgar Evers College · Brooklyn, NY
91
88–91
$115,779/yr High 42.5x
23 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
CUNY New York City College of Technology · Brooklyn, NY
91
88–91
$103,611/yr High 36.8x
24 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Farmingdale State College · Farmingdale, NY
91
87–91
$103,508/yr High 31.7x
25 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Empire State University · Saratoga Springs, NY
91
87–91
$94,830/yr High 32.9x
26 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-San Marcos · San Marcos, CA
91
87–91
$103,799/yr High 33.2x
27 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Monterey Bay · Seaside, CA
91
88–91
$117,088/yr High 43.4x
28 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
California State University-Channel Islands · Camarillo, CA
91
88–91
$103,484/yr High 39.7x
29 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
University of California-Los Angeles · Los Angeles, CA
90
86–90
$94,611/yr High 21.5x
30 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
College of Central Florida · Ocala, FL
90
87–90
$78,006/yr High 102.5x
31 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Daytona State College · Daytona Beach, FL
90
87–90
$77,838/yr High 73.2x
32 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Florida State College at Jacksonville · Jacksonville, FL
90
87–90
$77,442/yr High 83.3x
33 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Florida International University · Miami, FL
90
86–89
$78,671/yr High 34.7x
34 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Indian River State College · Fort Pierce, FL
90
87–90
$81,648/yr High 83.2x
35 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Polk State College · Winter Haven, FL
90
87–90
$81,004/yr High 69.2x
36 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
St Petersburg College · St. Petersburg, FL
90
86–89
$80,787/yr High 80.9x
37 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Albany State University · Albany, GA
90
87–90
$77,491/yr High 44.6x
38 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Clayton State University · Morrow, GA
90
87–90
$82,714/yr High 45.0x
39 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Dalton State College · Dalton, GA
90
87–90
$78,830/yr High 68.7x
40 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
University of Hawaii at Hilo · Hilo, HI
90
86–90
$84,401/yr High 29.0x
41 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
University of Hawaii at Manoa · Honolulu, HI
90
86–90
$94,216/yr High 22.0x
42 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Coppin State University · Baltimore, MD
90
87–89
$76,661/yr High 34.1x
43 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
University of Maryland Global Campus · Adelphi, MD
90
87–90
$92,323/yr High 30.5x
44 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Alcorn State University · Alcorn State, MS
90
87–90
$85,255/yr High 28.1x
45 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus · Portales, NM
90
87–90
$83,465/yr High 36.5x
46 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
CUNY York College · Jamaica, NY
90
87–90
$113,718/yr High 31.9x
47 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
SUNY College of Technology at Canton · Canton, NY
90
87–90
$81,256/yr High 30.1x
48 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
SUNY College of Technology at Delhi · Delhi, NY
90
87–90
$89,749/yr High 29.1x
49 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Stony Brook University · Stony Brook, NY
90
87–90
$94,853/yr High 24.3x
50 Registered Nursing & Nursing Administration
Northeastern State University · Tahlequah, OK
90
87–90
$80,792/yr High 32.2x

Methodology

Programs are ranked by DegreeWorth Score (0–100), combining graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and tuition ROI. Earnings data is from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024–2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Last updated 2025.