Best Registered Nurse programs in Maine, ranked by enrollment
Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients.
15 schools in Maine run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,195 people a year. The job pays a median of $86,990 in Maine across about 16,540 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Maine that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
8 programs in Maine that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Maine (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Maine page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nursemain feeder CIP 51.3801In Maine → | 899 | 75.2% | 14 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 2 | Nursing Sciencemain feeder CIP 51.3808In Maine → | 152 | 12.7% | 1 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 3 | Family Practice Nurse/Nursingmain feeder CIP 51.3805In Maine → | 50 | 4.2% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 4 | Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursingmain feeder CIP 51.3810In Maine → | 38 | 3.2% | 2 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 5 | Geriatric Nurse/Nursingmain feeder CIP 51.3821In Maine → | 32 | 2.7% | 3 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 6 | Nursing Administrationmain feeder CIP 51.3802In Maine → | 15 | 1.3% | 2 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 7 | Clinical Nurse Leadermain feeder CIP 51.3820In Maine → | 7 | 0.6% | 1 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
| 8 | Nursing Practicemain feeder CIP 51.3818In Maine → | 2 | 0.2% | 1 | $71,623 | $25,750 |
Top 15 schools in Maine
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 13 of the 15 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Southern Maine Portland, ME Public · 5 feeder programs | 170 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $71,675 | 40% | — | 79% |
| 2 | University of Maine at Fort Kent Fort Kent, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 152 | Nursing Science | $71,551 | 39% | — | 98% |
| 3 | Husson University Bangor, ME Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 128 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $73,758 | 59% | $18,839 | 81% |
| 4 | Saint Joseph's College of Maine Standish, ME Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 98 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $74,114 | 66% | $31,045 | 84% |
| 5 | University of Maine Orono, ME Public · 2 feeder programs | 98 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $77,737 | 55% | — | 97% |
| 6 | Beal University Bangor, ME Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 91 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | 36% | $34,052 | — |
| 7 | Southern Maine Community College South Portland, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 85 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $67,850 | 28% | — | — |
| 8 | University of New England Biddeford, ME Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 81 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $77,895 | 68% | $34,673 | 92% |
| 9 | University of Maine at Augusta Augusta, ME Public · 2 feeder programs | 60 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $82,845 | 27% | — | — |
| 10 | Eastern Maine Community College Bangor, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $69,158 | 32% | — | — |
| 11 | Maine College of Health Professions Lewiston, ME Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $68,704 | 67% | $20,438 | 71% |
| 12 | Kennebec Valley Community College Fairfield, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $69,117 | 39% | — | — |
| 13 | Central Maine Community College Auburn, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $66,734 | 30% | — | — |
| 14 | York County Community College Wells, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | — | 34% | — | — |
| 15 | Northern Maine Community College Presque Isle, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse | $66,455 | 42% | — | — |
All 15 schools in Maine
Every school in Maine with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Southern Maine | Portland | Public | 170 | 5 |
| University of Maine at Fort Kent | Fort Kent | Public | 152 | 1 |
| Husson University | Bangor | Private not-for-profit | 128 | 4 |
| Saint Joseph's College of Maine | Standish | Private not-for-profit | 98 | 4 |
| University of Maine | Orono | Public | 98 | 2 |
| Beal University | Bangor | Private for-profit | 91 | 1 |
| Southern Maine Community College | South Portland | Public | 85 | 1 |
| University of New England | Biddeford | Private not-for-profit | 81 | 1 |
| University of Maine at Augusta | Augusta | Public | 60 | 2 |
| Eastern Maine Community College | Bangor | Public | 55 | 1 |
| Maine College of Health Professions | Lewiston | Private not-for-profit | 49 | 1 |
| Kennebec Valley Community College | Fairfield | Public | 45 | 1 |
| Central Maine Community College | Auburn | Public | 37 | 1 |
| York County Community College | Wells | Public | 25 | 1 |
| Northern Maine Community College | Presque Isle | Public | 21 | 1 |
What registered nurses earn in Maine
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $97,550. Maine pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Maine
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Registered Nurses page.
How to become a Registered Nurse
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Maine
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 21 majors mapped to Registered Nurses21 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.3801Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse
- 51.3802Nursing Administration
- 51.3803Adult Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3805Family Practice Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3806Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3808Nursing Science
- 51.3809Pediatric Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3810Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3811Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3812Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3813Clinical Nurse Specialist
- 51.3814Critical Care Nursing
- 51.3815Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing
- 51.3816Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing
- 51.3818Nursing Practice
- 51.3819Palliative Care Nursing
- 51.3820Clinical Nurse Leader
- 51.3821Geriatric Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3822Women's Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3824Forensic Nursing
- 51.3899Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing registered nurses programs in Maine.
What degree do you need to become a Registered Nurse?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse, which awarded 899 degrees in Maine in 2024-25, 75.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Registered Nurse?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Registered Nursing. Together they graduate about 1,195 people a year in Maine.
How much do registered nurses earn in Maine?+
The median is $86,990 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 10.8% below the U.S. median of $97,550. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for registered nurses growing?+
BLS projects a +4.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 189,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Maine?+
15 institutions in Maine reported graduates from at least one of the 8 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do registered nurses work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Staff Nurse, Charge Nurse, APN (Advanced Practice Nurse), CNS (Clinical Nurse Specialist), Critical Care Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1141.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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