undergradly.
Major · Health Professions

An unusual CIP code that captures pre-licensure nursing in a doctoral slot

Officially CIP 51.3818 codes the Doctor of Nursing Practice, yet the 556 graduates this packet captures completed associate’s or bachelor’s degrees — a clear administrative miscoding. Treat this as RN/BSN-track preparation, not a doctoral path. If you searched here intending to study nursing, the 231,308-completion sibling CIP 51.3801 is almost certainly the right page.

Schools offering
21
Annual completions
556
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$84k

About this major

Read the page header carefully before going further. CIP 51.3818 is officially the federal classification for the Doctor of Nursing Practice, a terminal post-baccalaureate degree that prepares licensed RNs for advanced practice or executive roles. The 556 completions in this data packet, however, are reported entirely at the associate’s and bachelor’s level across 21 colleges — there are no doctoral completers in the file. The most plausible explanation is administrative: some institutions have filed pre-licensure RN, BSN, or RN-to-BSN bridge programs under 51.3818 rather than the standard Registered Nursing code (51.3801, with 231,308 annual completions). Treat what follows as a description of those undergraduate programs, with the caveat that they sit in an unusual coding slot.

At the undergraduate level, the work is what you would expect from any nursing program preparing students for the NCLEX-RN: anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, mental health and psychiatric nursing, maternal-child and pediatric nursing, medical-surgical rotations, and substantial supervised clinical hours in hospitals, clinics, and long-term care settings. Both the associate’s (ADN) and bachelor’s (BSN) versions lead to the same RN licensure exam, though BSN curricula add public health, leadership, research literacy, and more theory coursework.

The institutional profile is mixed. The University of Connecticut accounts for 131 bachelor’s completions; Ashland University, Brenau University, and Columbia College add bachelor’s volume from private nonprofits; three Bryant & Stratton campuses and Las Vegas College contribute substantial associate’s and bachelor’s totals from for-profit chains; Sentara College of Health Sciences and San Juan Bautista School of Medicine round out the smaller specialized programs. That spread matters because nursing program quality varies meaningfully across institutional type — verify state Board of Nursing approval and CCNE or ACEN accreditation directly with each school. Realistic destinations from a completed undergraduate program are Registered Nurses at $93,600 median wage and, with several years of experience plus a graduate degree, Medical and Health Services Managers at $117,960. The $129,210 Nurse Practitioner figure in the data reflects a master’s-level destination, not an outcome reachable from this credential alone.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Registered nurses $94k +4.9% Bachelor's degree
Medical and health services managers $118k +23.2% Bachelor's degree
Nurse practitioners $129k +40.1% Master's degree
Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary $80k +16.8% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$84k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$82k

Bachelor's

$87k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you have already confirmed that the program you are evaluating is state-Board-of-Nursing-approved and CCNE- or ACEN-accredited, since the unusual CIP coding makes due diligence on the specific school more important than usual. You may also benefit from this page if you are weighing an associate’s versus bachelor’s nursing path, since the $4,800 five-year earnings gap between the two ($86,549 vs $81,760) is small enough to make the time-and-cost calculus of an extra two years worth thinking through. The bachelor’s pays back over time through access to leadership, public health, and graduate-school options rather than through a higher entry-level RN paycheck. You may also use this page constructively if you are mapping a long-term path from bedside RN toward advanced practice — Nurse Practitioner roles ($129,210 median, 40.1% projected growth) require a graduate degree on top of the RN license, but a BSN is the standard launching point.

Think twice if you arrived here looking for a Doctor of Nursing Practice program — this page describes undergraduate programs filed under an unusual CIP code, not the actual DNP, and you should redirect to graduate-level resources instead. Reconsider also if you assumed the $129,210 Nurse Practitioner wage was an outcome of the bachelor’s — it is not, and the realistic immediate destination from a completed BSN is the $93,600 Registered Nurses figure, contingent on passing the NCLEX-RN. Finally, weigh the institutional mix carefully if you are looking at a for-profit program in this data set: NCLEX pass rates and clinical placement quality vary widely across the chain campuses listed in the packet, and the standard nursing CIP (51.3801) at a public or nonprofit alternative may be the cleaner administrative starting point.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Nursing Practice

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Las Vegas College Las Vegas, NV 133 0 133
University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 0 131 131
Ashland University Ashland, OH 0 100 100
Bryant & Stratton College-Syracuse North Liverpool, NY 0 54 54
Brenau University Gainesville, GA 0 44 44
Bryant & Stratton College-Wauwatosa Wauwatosa, WI 0 30 30
Columbia College Columbia, MO 0 27 27
San Juan Bautista School of Medicine Caguas, PR 0 14 14
Bryant & Stratton College-Parma Parma, OH 0 7 7
Sentara College of Health Sciences Chesapeake, VA 0 4 4
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse

231,308 completions/yr

Nursing Science

2,226 completions/yr

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other

2,109 completions/yr

Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing

1,199 completions/yr

Nursing Administration

715 completions/yr

Adult Health Nurse/Nursing

241 completions/yr

Family Practice Nurse/Nursing

141 completions/yr

Clinical Nurse Leader

9 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Nursing Practice field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Nursing Practice worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

Why does this page show associate’s and bachelor’s programs under a doctoral CIP?
CIP 51.3818 is the federal code for Nursing Practice, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), which is a graduate-only credential built on top of an existing RN license. The packet for this page lists 556 completions across 21 colleges, all at the associate’s or bachelor’s level — there are zero doctoral completions in the data. The most likely explanation is that some institutions filed RN-to-BSN bridge programs, pre-licensure BSNs, or associate’s-level RN programs into this code rather than the standard 51.3801 (Registered Nursing) code. Read this page as a description of those undergraduate programs, not as a guide to the DNP.
If I want to become a nurse, which page should I actually be on?
Almost certainly Registered Nursing (CIP 51.3801), which carries 231,308 annual completions — roughly 416 times the volume of this code. That CIP is the standard home for ADN, BSN, and RN-to-BSN programs, and it lines up with how state Boards of Nursing and the BLS describe RN preparation. The 556 graduates captured here are a rounding error against the main RN pipeline, and the institutions involved (UConn, Ashland, Bryant & Stratton, Brenau, Las Vegas College) all have ordinary nursing programs that simply happened to be reported under a non-standard code.
What about the Nurse Practitioner $129,210 figure listed in the careers — is that an outcome of this degree?
No. Nurse Practitioner roles require a master’s or DNP on top of an active RN license, and the BLS lists master’s degree as the typical entry credential. The $129,210 median wage and 40.1% projected growth describe a long-term trajectory that begins after you finish an undergraduate nursing program, pass the NCLEX-RN, work as a registered nurse, and then complete a graduate program. From the bachelor’s exit point captured in this packet, the realistic immediate destination is the Registered Nurses occupation at $93,600 median, not the NP figure.
How do the associate’s and bachelor’s earnings compare for this group?
Five-year median earnings are $81,760 for associate’s completers and $86,549 for bachelor’s completers — a gap of about $4,800. That tight spread is consistent with a cohort that is functionally working as registered nurses regardless of degree level, since most state licenses pay on the same RN scale once you pass the NCLEX. The bachelor’s premium tends to show up later in supervisory, public health, or clinical leadership roles rather than in the entry-level paycheck.
What kinds of institutions show up in the data, and does that matter?
The 21 colleges in this packet are a mixed group: a public flagship (University of Connecticut, 131 bachelor’s), private nonprofits (Ashland University, Brenau University, Columbia College), several Bryant & Stratton campuses (a for-profit chain), Las Vegas College, San Juan Bautista School of Medicine, and Sentara College of Health Sciences. The mix matters because it is uneven — for-profit nursing programs have historically had wider variation in NCLEX pass rates, accreditation status, and clinical placement quality than nonprofit and public counterparts. Verify state Board of Nursing approval and CCNE or ACEN accreditation directly with the school before enrolling, regardless of which CIP code the program is filed under.
What does the actual DNP path look like, in case that is what I meant to find?
The DNP is a terminal practice doctorate that follows a BSN and an active RN license. Common routes are BSN-to-DNP (typically three to four years full-time) and post-master’s DNP (typically one to two years for nurses who already hold an MSN). DNP graduates work as nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists ($212,650 median), nurse midwives, clinical nurse specialists, or in nursing executive and faculty roles. Several state Boards of Nursing have signaled movement toward DNP-level entry for advanced practice. None of that is reflected in the 556 undergraduate completions captured on this page.