Best of luck to you Wiggs!
Here in New York City, Registered Nurses (as per Salary.com & my niece who works for one of the top private institutions in the city) start between $85,000 - $90,000.
Considering that this is a 4-year, professional degree, you are literally going into the workforce with great job security (as nurses are wanted in all 50 states), great earning potential (if you already start at 85-90K, odds are you will see 6-figures in a matter of 2-3 years) and a world of options with regards to practice settings (you can do cardiac, gastroenterology, neurology, orthopedics, general medicine, who knows what else etc.).
Based on a wall street article I read a while back, nursing is one of the fastest growing fields. I think the best idea is to become one of those physician assistants or nurse practitioners (here in NYC, both make upwards of $135,000-$150,000 starting). My nephew (the one who smokes marijuana) is actually working towards becoming a Physician's Assistant and my niece who is a nurse is going back to grad school to do another 3 and half years of schooling (on top of the 4 years she already did) to now become a Nurse practitioner. While those other roles require a total of 7-8 years of schooling (undergrad + grad), it's something to think about down the line. Either way, you can not go wrong with the medical field. There are certain givens in life, one of which is that people will always either get sick or die at some point and for both instances, nurses are always necessary.
Best of luck!
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