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2023 Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools

396 Colleges

Finding the Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate School for You

With 84,274 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, practical nursing and nursing assistants is the #2 most popular major in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which nursing program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 396 schools in the United States to see which basic certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for nursing students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools for an Award Taking Less Than 1 Year in Nursing & Nursing Assistants

#1

Best Care College

East Orange, NJ

Our 2023 rankings named Best Care College the best school in the United States for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the suburb of East Orange, Best Care College is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

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#2

Polytech Adult Education

Woodside, DE

Out of the 396 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Polytech Adult Education landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the rural area of Woodside, Polytech Adult Education is a public college with a small student population.

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#3

Access Careers

Hempstead, NY

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Access Careers is a great place for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Access Careers is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Hempstead.

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#4

Texas Health School

Houston, TX

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Texas Health School. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. Texas Health School is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.

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#5

Dixie Technical College

Saint George, UT

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Dixie Technical College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Saint George, Dixie Tech is a public college with a small student population.

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With a ranking of #6, Madison Area Technical College did quite well on this year’s best schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the large city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Moraine Park Technical College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. Moraine Park Technical College is a small public school located in the small city of Fond du Lac.

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Miami Valley Career Technology Center landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best basic certificate practical nursing and nursing assistants programs. Miami Valley CTC is a fairly small public school located in the suburb of Englewood.

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Washburn Institute of Technology did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for practical nursing and nursing assistants students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Topeka, Washburn Tech is a public school with a small student population.

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With a ranking of #10, Career Center of Southern Illinois did quite well on this year’s best schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the rural area of Red Bud, Beck School of Practical Nursing is a public college with a fairly small student population.

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#11

Cape Coral Technical College

Cape Coral, FL

Cape Coral Technical College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Cape Coral, Cape Coral Technical College is a public school with a fairly small student population.

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With a ranking of #12, Fox Valley Technical College did quite well on this year’s best schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. FVTC is a large public school located in the suburb of Appleton.

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#13

Suncoast Technical College

Sarasota, FL

With a ranking of #13, Suncoast Technical College did quite well on this year’s best schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Suncoast Technical College is a small public school located in the large suburb of Sarasota.

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North Florida Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for practical nursing and nursing assistants students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #14 on the list. North Florida Technical College is a small public school located in the town of Starke.

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#15

Ivy Tech Community College

Indianapolis, IN

Ivy Tech Community College landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best basic certificate practical nursing and nursing assistants programs. Ivy Tech Community College is a fairly large public school located in the city of Indianapolis.

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#16

Oakton Community College

Des Plaines, IL

Oakton Community College ranked #16 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Des Plaines, Oakton Community College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

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Orange Technical College - Orlando Campus came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools ranking. OTC Orlando is a fairly small public school located in the city of Orlando.

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Chippewa Valley Technical College landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best basic certificate practical nursing and nursing assistants programs. Located in the city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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#19

Blackhawk Technical College

Janesville, WI

Blackhawk Technical College ranked #19 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. BTC is a small public school located in the small suburb of Janesville.

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Red Rocks Community College ranked #20 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. Red Rocks Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Lakewood.

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Autry Technology Center ranked #21 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. Autry Technology Center is a small public school located in the remote town of Enid.

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#22

Apollo Career Center

Lima, OH

With a ranking of #22, Apollo Career Center did quite well on this year’s best schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Apollo JVS is a small public school located in the suburb of Lima.

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Jefferson Community and Technical College landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best basic certificate practical nursing and nursing assistants programs. Jefferson Community and Technical College is a large public school located in the large city of Louisville.

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William Rainey Harper College ranked #24 on this year’s Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools list. Harper College is a large public school located in the large suburb of Palatine.

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#25

College of Lake County

Grayslake, IL

College of Lake County came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Grayslake, College of Lake County is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Rest of the Top Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools

#30

Century College

White Bear Lake, MN
#32

Pioneer Technology Center

Ponca City, OK
#34

Butte College

Oroville, CA
#35

Merced College

Merced, CA
#36

California Career Institute

Garden Grove, CA
#40

State Career College

Waukegan, IL
#43

College of the Sequoias

Visalia, CA
#44

Santa Rosa Junior College

Santa Rosa, CA
#47

Centralia College

Centralia, WA
#50

Cuesta College

San Luis Obispo, CA

Additional Award Winners

This section shows the rest of the schools awarded a Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 396 different United States practical nursing and nursing assistants schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 North Iowa Area Community College Mason City, IA
52 Bunker Hill Community College Boston, MA
53 Marion Technical College Ocala, FL
54 Lincoln Technical Institute - Paramus Paramus, NJ
55 Infinity College Lafayette, LA
56 Waukesha County Technical College Pewaukee, WI
57 Lincoln Technical Institute - Shelton Shelton, CT
58 Bluegrass Community and Technical College Lexington, KY
59 Northeast Texas Community College Mount Pleasant, TX

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
60 Kansas City Kansas Community College Kansas City, KS
61 Kaskaskia College Centralia, IL
62 Stone Academy-Waterbury Waterbury, CT
63 GateWay Community College Phoenix, AZ
64 High Desert Medical College Lancaster, CA
65 Monroe 2 Orleans BOCES-Center for Workforce Development Rochester, NY
66 Pontotoc Technology Center Ada, OK
67 Dawn Career Institute LLC Wilmington, DE
68 Tri-Rivers Career Center Marion, OH
69 Western Iowa Tech Community College Sioux City, IA
70 Coastal Pines Technical College Waycross, GA
71 Oconee Fall Line Technical College Sandersville, GA
72 Stone Academy-West Haven West Haven, CT
73 Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College Minden, LA
74 Angeles College Los Angeles, CA
75 Johnson County Community College Overland Park, KS
76 Flint Hills Technical College Emporia, KS
77 Fort Myers Technical College Fort Myers, FL
78 Central Georgia Technical College Warner Robins, GA
79 Northland Community and Technical College Thief River Falls, MN

Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants by Region

View the Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Practical Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training 44,900
Nursing Assistant/Aide and Patient Care Assistant/Aide 34,557
Other Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants 4,817

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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