Is Tabor College Worth It?

Tabor College sits in a mixed financial spot. At just under $20k a year, your net price is moderate for a private four-year school, and median earnings ten years out land above what you paid annually. But the graduation rate is the number that should stop you: fewer than one in three students finishes. That single fact reshapes everything below, because the earnings and debt figures only apply if you're among the third who walk out with a degree.

Nursing is the clear payoff here. A bachelor's in nursing pulls close to $60k, and Kansas hospitals hire nurses steadily, so that degree carries real regional value. Health and Physical Education is the opposite. At roughly $22.7k, that program pays less than a third of what nursing does, and it barely clears entry-level wages. If you're weighing these two majors at Tabor, the gap between them is the difference between a degree that pays for itself and one that leaves you underwater on $24k in debt.

The retention rate is your biggest specific risk. Two-thirds of students come back for a second year, meaning a large share leave, and dropouts still owe money without the credential that justifies it. Borrowing near the median only works if you finish.

The net price tiers are worth reading closely. If your family earns under $48k, you pay less than middle-income families do. Households in the $48-75k range actually pay the most, more than families earning over $110k. That inversion means a solidly middle-class family gets a worse deal here than either poorer or richer ones.

Tabor fits you if you're set on nursing and confident you'll finish. Look elsewhere if you're drawn to the lower-paying programs or unsure about completing.