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2023 Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

45 Colleges
$7,853 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,222 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree 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.

The Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Nursing Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 45 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for practical nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools in the United States

Check out the practical nursing associate degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools

Our analysis found SOWELA Technical Community College to be the best value school for practical nursing and nursing assistants students who want to pursue a associate degree in the United States. SOWELA is a small public school located in the city of Lake Charles.

SOWELA undergraduate students pay an average of $4,265 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at SOWELA Technical Community College Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend North Dakota State College of Science. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the distant town of Wahpeton, North Dakota State College of Science is a public college with a small student population.

North Dakota State College of Science undergraduate students pay an average of $6,606 in tuition and fees each year. Practical Nursing majors at North Dakota State College of Science take out an average of $23,924 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, North Dakota State College of Science also is in the top 5% of our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools ranking.

Read More…

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Central Louisiana Technical Community College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Alexandria, Central Louisiana Technical Community College is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Central Louisiana Technical Community College are $4,098 a year.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Central Louisiana Technical Community College

#4

Merced College

Merced, CA

Out of the 45 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Merced College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Merced, Merced Community College District is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Merced Community College District undergraduate students pay an average of $7,444 in tuition and fees each year.

Merced Community College District also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 1% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Merced College

#5

Del Mar College

Corpus Christi, TX

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Del Mar College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list. DMC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Corpus Christi.

DMC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,930 in tuition and fees each year.

DMC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list.

Read More…

#6

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

With a ranking of #6, Hennepin Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their associate degree. Hennepin Technical College is a small public school located in the suburb of Brooklyn Park.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Hennepin Technical College are $5,741 per year.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Hennepin Technical College

#7

Cuesta College

San Luis Obispo, CA

Cuesta College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cuesta College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Cuesta College undergraduate students pay an average of $8,702 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Cuesta College also did well on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Cuesta College Report

#8

Imperial Valley College

Imperial, CA

Imperial Valley College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for practical nursing and nursing assistants students to get a associate degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the rural area of Imperial, IVC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at IVC are $6,646 a year.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Imperial Valley College

#9

Butte College

Oroville, CA

Butte College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree practical nursing and nursing assistants programs. Located in the rural area of Oroville, Butte College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Butte College are $7,848 per year. On average, practical nursing graduates from Butte College take out $18,505 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Butte College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Butte College

#10

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN

Saint Paul College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list. Saint Paul College is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of Saint Paul.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Saint Paul College are $6,041 per year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Saint Paul College Report

Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants by Region

View the Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree 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.

  • 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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