Practical Nursing

Types of Degrees Practical Nursing Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many practical nursing & nursing assistants graduations there were in 2021-2022 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	42,522
Basic Certificate	40,574
Associate Degree	2,160
Bachelor’s Degree	76

What Practical Nursing Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to practical nursing were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Practical Nursing Majors

Practical Nursing majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Skills for Practical Nursing Majors

practical nursing majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Practical Nursing Majors

A major in practical nursing will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Practical Nursing Major?

People with a practical nursing degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses	12.3%	$46,240
Nursing Assistants	11.5%	$28,540

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Practical Nursing?

This is one of the most frequently chosen trade school majors. It is the 16th most popular in the country with 1,991 students graduating with an associate’s in practical nursing in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 88% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of practical nursing majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	332
Black or African American	199
Hispanic or Latino	860
White	479
International Students	4
Other Races/Ethnicities	286

How Much Do Practical Nursing Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $29,580 to $47,050 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to practical nursing. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Practical Nursing

Some careers associated with practical nursing require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for practical nursing careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.7%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	21.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	36.6%
Some College Courses	25.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	13.0%
Bachelor’s Degree	0.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.2%

Online Practical Nursing Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1,107	7
Certificate (2-4 Years)	62	0
Associate’s Degree	117	3
Bachelor’s Degree	2	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	0
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Practical Nursing Worth It?

The median salary for a practical nursing grad is $29,580 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Practical Nursing

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to practical nursing.

Major	Number of Grads
Health & Medical Administrative Services	88,600
Allied Health Professions	83,905
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	83,587
Health Sciences & Services	36,762
Mental & Social Health Services	30,331
Dental Support Services	26,024
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	18,884
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services	10,622
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies	1,818
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services	817
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies	89

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.