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2023 Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

45 Colleges
$8,247 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,121 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree School for You

In 2021-2022, 85,339 practical nursing & nursing assistants students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #2 most popular in the country.

Today's trade school students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Trade College Search has developed this Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools ranking. 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 & 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.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SOWELA are $4,325 a year.

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Out of the 45 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, North Dakota State College of Science landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the distant town of Wahpeton, North Dakota State College of Science is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at North Dakota State College of Science are $6,879 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, practical nursing graduates from North Dakota State College of Science carry an average student debtload of $18,021.

North Dakota State College of Science also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at North Dakota State College of Science Report

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.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Central Louisiana Technical Community College are $4,098 per year.

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#4

Merced College

Merced, CA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Merced College is a great value for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Merced, Merced Community College District is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Merced Community College District are $7,890 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Merced Community College District also is in the top 5% of our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Merced College Report

#5

Del Mar College

Corpus Christi, TX

The excellent associate degree programs at Del Mar College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value practical nursing & nursing assistants schools in the United States. Located in the city of Corpus Christi, DMC is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at DMC are $5,990 a year.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Del Mar College

#6

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

Hennepin Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for practical nursing & nursing assistants students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Hennepin Technical College is a small public school located in the large suburb of Brooklyn Park.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Hennepin Technical College are $5,881 a year. The average amount in student loans that practical nursing majors at Hennepin Technical College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $16,931.

Hennepin Technical College also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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

#7

Cuesta College

San Luis Obispo, CA

Cuesta College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree practical nursing & nursing assistants programs. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cuesta College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cuesta College are $9,348 per year.

Cuesta College also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

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#8

Imperial Valley College

Imperial, CA

Imperial Valley College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree practical nursing & nursing assistants programs. Located in the rural area of Imperial, IVC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at IVC are $6,646 per year.

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#9

Butte College

Oroville, CA

Butte College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the rural area of Oroville, Butte College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Butte College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,816 in tuition and fees each year. Practical Nursing majors at Butte College take out an average of $12,426 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Butte College also did well on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Associate Degree Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Butte College Report

#10

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN

Saint Paul College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for practical nursing & nursing assistants students to get a associate degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Saint Paul College is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Saint Paul.

Saint Paul College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,318 in tuition and fees each year.

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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
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

One of 11 majors within the trade school area of study, practical nursing & nursing assistants has other similar majors worth exploring.

Practical Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training 45,031
Nursing Assistant/Aide and Patient Care Assistant/Aide 35,655
Other Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants 4,653

Related Major Annual Graduates
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

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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