Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a nursing degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to nursing, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a nursing degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 23 CIP 2020 programs in nursing to 6 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a nursing degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 6 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $128,080, ranging from $80,250 for Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary to $236,590 for Nurse Anesthetists. BLS typical entry-level education splits 2 at bachelor's degree, 3 at master's degree, 1 at doctoral or professional degree: 2 at or below a bachelor's degree and 4 above it. Nurse Practitioners is projected to grow fastest at +41% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Nurse Anesthetists ($236,590), Nurse Midwives ($134,040) and Nurse Practitioners ($132,300).
- Related occupations
- 6, from 23 CIP 2020 programs in nursing
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree: 2; Master's degree: 3; Doctoral or professional degree: 1
- Median wage across these occupations
- $128,080 (2025); 6 of 6 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 5 of the 6 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a nursing degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 6 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 6 of 6 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Nurse Anesthetists SOC 29-1151 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 4.1 · Sitting 3.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | Master's degree Above bachelor's | $236,590 2025 median | +9.7% 2025-35 · 2.4 openings/yr |
Nurse Midwives SOC 29-1161 Contact with others 4.9 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 2.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Master's degree Above bachelor's | $134,040 2025 median | +11.5% 2025-35 · 0.4 openings/yr |
Nurse Practitioners SOC 29-1171 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 4.1 · Sitting 2.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Master's degree Above bachelor's | $132,300 2025 median | +41% 2025-35 · 29.4 openings/yr |
Medical and Health Services Managers SOC 11-9111 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 4.3 · Outdoors, all weather 1.0 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $123,860 2025 median | +24.2% 2025-35 · 62.3 openings/yr |
Registered Nurses SOC 29-1141 Contact with others 4.9 · Time pressure 4.0 · Sitting 2.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $97,550 2025 median | +5.6% 2025-35 · 180.8 openings/yr |
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1072 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $80,250 2025 median | +17.1% 2025-35 · 8.5 openings/yr |
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
2 of the 6 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 4 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- Bachelor's degree
- 2
- Master's degree
- 3
- Doctoral or professional degree
- 1
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Nursing” groups 23 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 51.3801 Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse
- 51.3802 Nursing Administration
- 51.3803 Adult Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3804 Nurse Anesthetist
- 51.3805 Family Practice Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3806 Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3807 Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery
- 51.3808 Nursing Science
- 51.3809 Pediatric Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3810 Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3811 Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3812 Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3813 Clinical Nurse Specialist
- 51.3814 Critical Care Nursing
- 51.3815 Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing
- 51.3816 Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing
- 51.3818 Nursing Practice
- 51.3819 Palliative Care Nursing
- 51.3820 Clinical Nurse Leader
- 51.3821 Geriatric Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3822 Women's Health Nurse/Nursing
- 51.3824 Forensic Nursing
- 51.3899 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.