Nursing students by the numbers
How hard it is to get a seat, what the licensing exam involves, who nurses are, and what the first paycheck looks like. Every figure is from the latest national release.
Getting in
Interest in nursing is rising faster than schools can add places. Applications to entry-level BSN programs rose 17.1% in 2025, while enrollment grew 7.6%. Schools turned away 93,176 qualified applications across all levels that year, 75,255 of them for entry-level BSN places.
The bottleneck is not demand from students. Schools cite insufficient clinical placement sites, faculty, preceptors, and classroom space, as well as budget cuts. A qualified application is one that met the school's admission standards, and one person can file several, so the figure counts applications rather than people.
AACN survey of 998 schools offering bachelor's and graduate nursing programs. Associate degree and LPN programs are not included.
If you already hold a bachelor's degree in another field, an accelerated BSN is the fastest route to RN licensure. AACN counts 340 of these programs, which take 12 to 18 months including prerequisites. They enrolled 29,421 students and graduated 17,029 in 2025.
The NCLEX
Every nursing graduate needs to pass the NCLEX before working as a nurse: the NCLEX-RN for registered nurses, the NCLEX-PN for practical and vocational nurses. The current version, the Next Generation NCLEX, launched on April 1, 2023 and adds case studies that test clinical judgment.
| Length | 85 to 150 questions, depending on how you answer |
|---|---|
| Time limit | 5 hours |
| Average RN exam, 2025 | 103 questions in 2 hours 14 minutes |
| Registration fee (US) | $200, rising to $350 for registrations made on or after February 1, 2027 |
In 2025, 86.7% of US-educated candidates passed the NCLEX-RN on their first attempt, down from 91.2% in 2024. The decline deepened through the year:
- Jan to Mar 88.4%
- Apr to Jun 89.1%
- Jul to Sep 84.0%
- Oct to Dec 81.2%
Full year 2024: 91.2%
US-educated first-time candidates. Source: NCSBN.
Passing on the first try matters. Among US-educated candidates retaking the RN exam in 2025, only 52.7% passed. Internationally educated nurses taking it for the first time passed at 47.3%. For practical nursing, 86.6% of first-time US-educated candidates passed the NCLEX-PN.
Who nurses are
The 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study surveyed hundreds of thousands of licensed nurses. Its picture of the profession:
- The median RN is 50 years old, up from 46 in 2022. LPNs and LVNs have the same median age.
- About 10% of RNs are men, and 9% of LPNs and LVNs.
- More than 73% of RNs hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 46% started with a BSN, up from 39% in 2015, so many earned it later through RN-to-BSN programs.
- 39.9% of RNs plan to leave or retire within five years, and 41.3% of LPNs and LVNs. More than 138,000 nurses left the workforce between 2022 and 2024.
An older workforce with many planning to leave is a large part of why job openings stay high even where the number of nursing jobs grows slowly.
After graduation
Pay rises steeply with each level of training. The median registered nurse earned $97,550 in May 2025, about half again what an LPN earned. Nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists, who need a graduate degree, earn more again.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Employment excludes self-employed workers.
Where you work changes pay more than almost anything else. The average RN in California earned $73,260 a year more than one in Alabama, though living costs differ too.
| State | Mean pay |
|---|---|
| California | $150,280 |
| Hawaii | $124,340 |
| Oregon | $123,140 |
| Washington | $121,540 |
| Massachusetts | $117,960 |
| State | Mean pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $77,020 |
| South Dakota | $77,140 |
| Mississippi | $78,950 |
| Iowa | $80,540 |
| Arkansas | $81,520 |
Annual mean wage, May 2025, 50 states and DC. Source: BLS.
Jobs are plentiful. BLS projects about 180,800 openings for registered nurses every year from 2025 to 2035, against 5.6% growth in the total number of RN jobs. Most openings come from nurses retiring or changing careers. Nurse practitioner jobs are projected to grow 41%, while LPN jobs grow 3% with about 51,800 openings a year.
Sources
- AACN annual survey, fall 2025 (press release, May 7, 2026)
- AACN, Accelerated Baccalaureate and Master's Degrees in Nursing fact sheet
- NCSBN, 2025 NCLEX Examination Statistics (Research Brief Vol. 96, June 2026). Portions copyrighted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. All rights reserved.
- NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin
- NCSBN, NCLEX fee changes effective February 1, 2027
- NCSBN and National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers, 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35 (Table 1.2)