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Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

2023 Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

38 Colleges
$5,963 Avg Tuition & Fees*

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

In 2021-2022, 85,339 practical nursing & nursing assistants students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #2 most popular in the country.

There are so many trade school programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country.

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 Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. This report analyzed 38 schools in the Plains States 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.

2023 Best Value Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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

Top 10 Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Neosho County Community College to be the best value school for practical nursing & nursing assistants students who want to pursue a basic certificate in the Plains States Region . Neosho County Community College is a small public school located in the town of Chanute.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Neosho County Community College are $4,416 a year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Neosho County Community College Report

The excellent basic certificate programs at Hutchinson Community College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value practical nursing & nursing assistants schools in the Plains States Region . Hutchinson Community College is a small public school located in the distant town of Hutchinson.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Hutchinson Community College are $4,530 a year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Hutchinson Community College Report

Out of the 38 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Iowa Tech Community College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Western Iowa Tech Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Sioux City.

Western Iowa Tech Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,946 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Western Iowa Tech Community College Report

#4

Garden City Community College

Garden City, KS

The excellent basic certificate programs at Garden City Community College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value practical nursing & nursing assistants schools in the Plains States Region . Garden City Community College is a small public school located in the town of Garden City.

Garden City Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,110 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Garden City Community College

#5

Century College

White Bear Lake, MN

The excellent basic certificate programs at Century College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value practical nursing & nursing assistants schools in the Plains States Region . Century College is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of White Bear Lake.

Century College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,105 in tuition and fees each year.

Century College also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

#6

Johnson County Community College

Overland Park, KS

Johnson County Community College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Overland Park, JCCC is a public school with a large student population.

JCCC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,472 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Johnson County Community College Report

With a ranking of #7, Lake Area Technical Institute did quite well on this year’s best value schools for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the town of Watertown, LATI is a public school with a small student population.

LATI undergraduate students pay an average of $6,718 in tuition and fees each year.

LATI also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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Dodge City Community College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate practical nursing & nursing assistants programs. Dodge City Community College is a small public school located in the town of Dodge City.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Dodge City Community College are $4,890 per year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Dodge City Community College Report

Anoka Technical College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate practical nursing & nursing assistants programs. Anoka Technical College is a small public school located in the suburb of Anoka.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Anoka Technical College are $6,075 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Anoka Technical College is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read More…

Seward County Community College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the town of Liberal, SCCC is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SCCC are $4,928 per year.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Seward County Community College Report

Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Colleges by State

Explore the best practical nursing & nursing assistants schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 3,821
Missouri 962
Minnesota 2,176
South Dakota 245
Iowa 1,762
North Dakota 256
Nebraska 346

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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