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Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

81 Colleges
$7,455 Avg Tuition & Fees*

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.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for nursing students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 81 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value basic certificate programs for practical nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

Top 15% Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Madison Area Technical College the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the city of Madison, Madison College is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Madison College are $6,769 per year.

Madison College also took the #1 spot in our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Moraine Park Technical College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Moraine Park Technical College is a small public school located in the small city of Fond du Lac.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Moraine Park Technical College are $6,683 per year.

Moraine Park Technical College also made our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #2.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Moraine Park Technical College Report

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Out of the 81 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Fox Valley Technical College landed the # 3 spot on the list. FVTC is a fairly large public school located in the midsize suburb of Appleton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at FVTC are $6,861 a year.

FVTC also made our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #3.

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The excellent basic certificate programs at Chippewa Valley Technical College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value practical nursing and nursing assistants schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

CVTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,683 in tuition and fees each year.

CVTC also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

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#5

Blackhawk Technical College

Janesville, WI

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Blackhawk Technical College is a great value for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. BTC is a small public school located in the suburb of Janesville.

BTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,683 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, BTC also did well on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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With a ranking of #6, Northcentral Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for practical nursing and nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. North Central Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Wausau.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at North Central Technical College are $5,415 per year.

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Gateway 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 #7 on the list. Gateway Technical College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Kenosha.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Gateway Technical College are $6,803 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Gateway Technical College also is in the top 15% of our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

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Northeast Wisconsin Technical College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. NWTC is a large public school located in the city of Green Bay.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NWTC are $6,849 a year.

NWTC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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Waukesha County 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 #9 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Pewaukee, WCTC is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

WCTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,603 in tuition and fees each year.

WCTC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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#10

Western Technical College

La Crosse, WI

Western 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 #10 on the list. Located in the city of La Crosse, Western Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Western Technical College are $6,687 per year.

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#11

Ivy Tech Community College

Indianapolis, IN

Ivy Tech Community College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate practical nursing and nursing assistants programs. Ivy Tech Community College is a very large public school located in the city of Indianapolis.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Ivy Tech Community College are $8,927 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Ivy Tech Community College is ranked #4 for overall quality for practical nursing in the Great Lakes Region .

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Southwest Wisconsin Technical College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Southwest Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Fennimore.

Southwest Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $6,683 in tuition and fees each year.

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Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Nursing & Nursing Assistants students in the Great Lakes Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
13 Mid-State Technical College Wisconsin Rapids, WI
14 Highland Community College Freeport, IL
15 Lakeshore Technical College Cleveland, WI
16 John A Logan College Carterville, IL

Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Colleges by State

Explore the best practical nursing and nursing assistants schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 0
Ohio 0
Illinois 0

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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