That statistic gets dragged down by nurses who only have associates degrees. Nurses with a B.S. earn over $60k on average.
It's possible to get 80k out of school as a computer scientist and I also know nurses that have a 4 year degree before they started nursing school so...
If people go into nursing because the perception is that it pays so well, these viewpoints are not contradictory.
well this is NYC, $80K here is like $45K in Kentucky