Find Nursing Colleges

What Do You Want to Study?

Health Professions / Nursing / Nursing Administration Major

Find Schools Near

Nursing Administration

859 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
8,411 Master's Degrees Annually
#6 in Popularity
$75,510 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Nursing Administration Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many nursing administration graduations there were in 2021-2022 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Master’s Degree 7,308
Bachelor’s Degree 712
Doctor’s Degree 483
Graduate Certificate 124
Basic Certificate 36

What Nursing Administration Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to nursing administration and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Nursing Administration Majors

Nursing Administration majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

undefined
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Skills for Nursing Administration Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to nursing administration:

undefined
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Nursing Administration Majors

As a nursing administration major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

undefined
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Nursing Administration Major?

People with a nursing administration degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Clinical Nurse Specialists 14.8% $71,730
Medical and Health Services Managers 20.5% $99,730
Registered Nurses 14.8% $71,730

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Administration?

712 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
87% Percent Women
31% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
The major attracts more women than men. About 87% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of nursing administration majors is as follows:

undefined
Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 43
Black or African American 115
Hispanic or Latino 42
White 447
International Students 4
Other Races/Ethnicities 61

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Nursing Administration. About 0.6% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Nursing Administration Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $75,510 to $113,730 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to nursing administration. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Nursing Administration Major  ( 75510 to 113730 )
0K
250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
0K
250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
0K
250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
0K
250K

Some careers associated with nursing administration require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for nursing administration careers below.

undefined
Education Level Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses 4.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 34.0%
Bachelor’s Degree 29.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 1.1%
Master’s Degree 29.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 2.3%
Doctoral Degree 1.1%

Online Nursing Administration Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 1 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 3 0
Bachelor’s Degree 36 20
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 212 113
Post-Master’s 65 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 14 4
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 21 9
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 1 1

Is a Degree in Nursing Administration Worth It?

The median salary for a nursing administration grad is $75,510 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 89% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $712,200 after 20 years!

undefined

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to nursing administration.

Major Number of Grads
Registered Nursing 262,974
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,647
Nursing Practice 8,862
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 4,717
Nursing Science 4,701
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,895
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,075
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 2,011
Nurse Anesthetist 1,768
Critical Care Nursing 747
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 622
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 567
School Nursing 539
Clinical Nurse Leader 502
Clinical Nurse Specialist 340
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 269
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing 262
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 192
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 87
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 26
Forensic Nursing 23
Palliative Care Nursing 13

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Find Nursing Schools Near You

Our free matching tool for schools matches students with nursing schools across the U.S.