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Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region

2023 Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

With 85,339 degrees and certificates handed out in 2021-2022, practical nursing & 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 trade school students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Trade College Search has developed this Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 113 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which basic certificate programs were the most popular for trade school students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants program at each school on the list.

Check out the practical nursing basic certificate programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the Great Lakes Region .

#1

Ivy Tech Community College

Indianapolis, IN

Our 2023 rankings named Ivy Tech Community College the most popular school in the Great Lakes Region for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the large city of Indianapolis, Ivy Tech Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 90% of the practical nursing majors at the school.

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Out of the 113 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the midsize city of Green Bay, NWTC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 86% of the practical nursing majors at the school.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Gateway Technical College is a great place for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the midsize suburb of Kenosha, Gateway Technical College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

About 88% of the students majoring in practical nursing at the school are women while 12% are male.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Gateway Technical College Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Waukesha County Technical College is a great place for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. WCTC is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Pewaukee.

Women make up 92% of the practical nursing majors at the school.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Waukesha County Technical College

#5

College of Lake County

Grayslake, IL

Out of the 113 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, College of Lake County landed the # 5 spot on the list. College of Lake County is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Grayslake.

Of the 300 students majoring in practical nursing at College of Lake County, 14% are male and 86% are female.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at College of Lake County Report

Madison Area Technical College ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Madison College is a large public school located in the city of Madison.

About 85% of the students majoring in practical nursing at the school are women while 15% are male.

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With a ranking of #7, Moraine Park Technical College did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the small city of Fond du Lac, Moraine Park Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

Of the 381 students majoring in practical nursing at Moraine Park Technical College, 12% are male and 88% are female.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Moraine Park Technical College

Fox Valley Technical College ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Appleton, FVTC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 84% of the students majoring in practical nursing at the school are women while 16% are male.

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Columbus State Community College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Columbus State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Columbus.

About 83% of the students majoring in practical nursing at the school are women while 17% are male.

Read full report on Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Columbus State Community College

Chippewa Valley Technical College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. CVTC is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Eau Claire.

Of the 359 students majoring in practical nursing at CVTC, 15% are male and 85% are female.

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Northcentral Technical College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Wausau, North Central Technical College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Of the 276 students majoring in practical nursing at North Central Technical College, 10% are male and 90% are female.

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With a ranking of #12, William Rainey Harper College did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for practical nursing & nursing assistants students working on their basic certificate. Located in the suburb of Palatine, Harper College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 85% of the practical nursing majors at the school.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at William Rainey Harper College Report

Sinclair Community College came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Dayton, Sinclair Community College is a public college with a large student population.

About 81% of the students majoring in practical nursing at the school are women while 19% are male.

Read More…

#14

Blackhawk Technical College

Janesville, WI

Blackhawk Technical College landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular basic certificate practical nursing & nursing assistants programs. Located in the suburb of Janesville, BTC is a public college with a small student population.

About 89% of the students majoring in practical nursing at the school are women while 11% are male.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Blackhawk Technical College Report

#15

Kaskaskia College

Centralia, IL

Kaskaskia College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for practical nursing & nursing assistants students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #15 on the list. Kaskaskia College is a small public school located in the rural area of Centralia.

About 81% of the students majoring in practical nursing at the school are women while 19% are male.

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

#16

Lincoln Land Community College

Springfield, IL

Lincoln Land Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for practical nursing & nursing assistants students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #16 on the list. LLCC is a small public school located in the midsize city of Springfield.

Women make up 88% of the practical nursing majors at the school.

Full Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants at Lincoln Land Community College Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
17 Heartland Community College Normal, IL
18 Southwest Wisconsin Technical College Fennimore, WI
19 Mid-State Technical College Wisconsin Rapids, WI
20 Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee, WI
21 City Colleges of Chicago - Malcolm X College Chicago, IL
22 Western Technical College La Crosse, WI

Best Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants Colleges by State

Explore the best practical nursing & nursing assistants colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 1,324
Indiana 2,268
Wisconsin 6,068
Ohio 4,902
Illinois 5,858

Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants is one of 11 different types of trade school programs to choose from.

Practical Nursing Concentrations

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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