8 Best ADN Programs in Oregon – (2-Year RN Programs)

Written By: Pattie Trumble, MPP, MPH

ADN programs in Oregon are an excellent way to expedite becoming an RN in the Beaver State. Oregon’s associate degree in nursing programs typically take two years or less to complete. Shorter programs mean fewer tuition payments. You’ll be out there earning a salary while your colleagues in four-year programs are still in school! If you decide to continue your nursing education, you’ll probably be able to apply many of your ADN credits toward a bachelor’s or graduate nursing degree. ADN-educated RNs make $106,610 a year, and their employment opportunities are projected to go up by more than 12 percent in the next 10 years. Find out more by reviewing this list of the 8 best ADN programs in Oregon.

WHAT ARE THE BEST ADN PROGRAMS IN OREGON (ONLINE AND CAMPUS)?

Based on our Ranking Methodology, the following are the 8 best nursing schools for ADN programs in Oregon. You can complete most of these programs in 2 years.

1. Chemeketa Community College - Salem

Program Details: Chemeketa Community College prepares its ADN graduates to become lifelong learners. The college’s 93-quarter-credit associate nursing degree program consists of general education coursework, nine prerequisites, and six foundational nursing courses. Your core ADN classwork includes courses such as “Fundamentals of Nursing,” “Acute and Chronic Conditions 1 & 2,” and “Care in Urgent and Community Settings.” Labs and clinical experiences are incorporated into lecture classes.

Chemeketa’s simulation lab uses 2D virtual reality and 3D immersive VR simulations, as well as high-tech, programmable manikins, to teach students essential hands-on nursing skills. Once you’ve mastered critical techniques, you’ll go on to participate in clinical experiences at Salem Hospital, Willamette Valley Medical Center, and other medical facilities throughout Salem and the Willamette Valley.

Chemeketa Community College’s ADN program in Oregon is widely considered one of the best in the state. The college admits approximately 40 students every fall, and competition for admission is intense. The college also offers an LPN-to-RN fast track for licensed practical nurses interested in upgrading their professional skills.

Why Choose This Program

• At the end of your first year of nursing studies, you’ll qualify to take the NCLEX-PN and be licensed as an LPN.
• This 2-year RN program in Oregon has a dual enrollment agreement with Linfield College's Portland campus that will allow you to earn your associate nursing degree and your Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at the same time.
• Want to continue your professional education after you become a registered nurse? Chemeketa has articulation agreements with Oregon Health & Sciences University, Bushnell University, George Fox University, and Warner Pacific University that support the seamless transfer of academic credit toward these schools’ BSN degrees.
• Chemeketa Community College’s three-year average pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam is over 99 percent.

2. Linn-Benton Community College - Albany

Program Details: The high quality of the clinical education Linn-Benton Community College offers its associate nursing degree students has earned the school a reputation as one of the best ADN programs in Oregon. During your first term, you’ll begin rotations at medical centers, public health agencies, and long-term care facilities located within 40 miles of the college. Plan to complete two eight-hour clinical shifts or one 12-hour shift a week throughout your enrollment.

The 58-credit program admits new students each fall and takes six quarter terms (two years) to complete. Required nursing coursework includes “Introductory Medical-Surgical Care,” “Care Throughout the Lifespan,” and “Critical Transitions in Care.” Each lecture course is accompanied by a clinical class that applies the nursing theory you’ve learned in lectures to direct patient care situations. Each quarter term, you will also take a one-credit course on “Drug Theory and Nursing Implications.”

Linn-Benton Community College only accepts applicants into this 2-year nursing program in Oregon who have completed certified nursing assistant training. Students learn additional nursing skills, such as intravenous venipuncture at the on-campus Nursing Skills Lab, which is equipped with mock hospital stations and sophisticated human-simulation manikins.

Why Choose This Program

• Linn-Benton Community College maintains an 8:1 ratio of students to staff so that students can benefit from personalized interactions with their instructors.
• Bushnell University will admit all Linn-Benton Community College nursing graduates who meet entrance requirements into the university’s online BSN and Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs.
• ADN graduates from Linn-Benton Community College have a three-year NCLEX-RN pass rate that exceeds 97 percent.

3. Portland Community College - Portland

Program Details: Every fall, Portland Community College accepts 32 new students into its highly-ranked ADN program in Oregon. The curriculum emphasizes a patient-centric approach to nursing. It includes courses like “Clinical Pharmacology I & II,” “Foundations of Nursing in Acute Care I & II,” and “Pathophysiological Processes I & II.” Each lecture course is paired with a clinical component, during which you’ll have the opportunity to put theory into real-world practice. The nursing program is taught at the college’s Sylvania campus.

Portland Community College’s Cascade Medical Simulation Center, a 2,200-square-foot center equipped with hospital fixtures, high-tech manikins, and a virtual reality training suite, offers students the chance to perfect their hands-on skills before they interact with patients directly in healthcare practice settings. You’ll participate in clinical experiences at Oregon Health Sciences University, Providence Portland Medical Center, and other healthcare facilities throughout the Greater Portland Metropolitan Region.

Why Choose This Program

• Eager to continue your professional education after you attain your RN license? Portland Community College partners with Oregon Health Sciences University to allow PCC ADN graduates to complete a BSN degree in just one year.
• Portland Community College has its own online RN-to-BSN, which its ADN graduates can easily transfer into.
• At 97 percent, Portland Community College’s NCLEX-RN pass rate is well above both the Oregon and national averages.

4. Clatsop Community College - Astoria

Program Details: Clatsop Community College’s 2-year RN program in Oregon follows the nursing study plan developed by the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education. You’ll spend at least a year completing general education and prerequisite courses, though, before you begin the nursing curriculum. Nursing coursework includes “Foundations of Health Assessment & Promotion,” “Foundations of Nursing in Chronic Care 1 & 2,” and “Pathophysiological Processes 1 & 2.” The curriculum also includes an integrative practicum experience during which you’ll get the opportunity to apply the nursing theory you’ve learned to the care of patients.

Clatsop Community College accepts 24 students into its nursing program each fall. While most courses are taught at the college’s Lexington campus in Astoria, selected courses will be delivered online using Canvas technology. Clinical rotations are scheduled at Columbia Memorial Hospital, Providence Seaside Hospital, Clatsop Behavioral Health, and other healthcare facilities in Clatsop and neighboring counties. The college began exploring simulation as an avenue for nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic and now has an active simulation laboratory in place.

Why Choose This Program

• Are you interested in the effects the changing environment is having on human health? Clatsop Community College’s ADN pathway is the first Oregon community college nursing program to commit to teaching about the effects of climate change.
• Like several other ADN programs in Oregon, Clatsop Community College offers graduates the option of completing a BSN degree at Oregon Health Sciences University—either at the university’s Portland campus or online.
• Clatsop Community College’s three-year NCLEX-RN pass rates surpass 97 percent.

5. Rogue Community College - White City

Program Details: Rogue Community College accepts new students into its ADN program in Oregon in the fall and spring. The program is taught at RCC’s Table Rock Campus in White City and comprises 102 quarter credits: 45 prerequisite and corequisite credits and 56 nursing quarter credits. In the first year of the nursing curriculum, you’ll take a combination of lecture, clinical, and lab coursework, but in your second year, you’ll take one lecture course and its complementary clinical course each term.

Your nursing study plan will include classes like “Foundations of Nursing-Health Promotion,” “Pathophysiological Processes I & II,” and “Foundations of Nursing in Acute Care.” The new Health Professions Center features the latest simulation health technology so you can learn and practice nursing skills in a safe environment. The final course in your nursing curriculum will be a supervised clinical practicum where you’ll learn how to apply critical thinking to direct patient care at healthcare facilities throughout Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, and other communities in Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley.

All applicants to this program must have at least 500 hours of experience as a licensed professional caring for patients. This program only accepts certified nursing assistants, LPNs, respiratory therapists, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, military medics, or corpsmen.

Why Choose This Program

• Are you a licensed practical nurse who wants to move ahead professionally? Rogue Community College offers an LPN-to-RN transition program.
• Interested in attaining a BSN degree? Rogue Community College partners with Oregon Health Sciences University on a program that will allow you to earn your Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree through an additional year of schooling once you graduate from RCC.
• At more than 95 percent, Rogue Community College’s five-year NCLEX-RN pass rate is impressive.

6. Treasure Valley Community College - Ontario

Program Details: Before you can enroll in Treasure Valley Community College’s core nursing curriculum, you must complete 48 quarter credits of prerequisites. The 60-quarter-credit nursing curriculum includes a four-part “Pharmacology” course and a two-part “Medical Surgical” course, as well as classes in “Maternity & Pediatric Nursing” and “Community and Mental Health Nursing.” You’ll finish off your required courses with a practicum designed to help you put the nursing theory you’ve learned into practice as you care for patients. This program starts once a year in the fall.

Treasure Valley’s new Nursing-Allied Health Professional Center contains simulation labs with medical equipment and high-tech manikins where you’ll learn the essential nursing skills that will play an important role in your professional life.

Why Choose This Program

• Treasure Valley Community College’s nursing program is a tiered pathway: At the end of your first year of nursing coursework, you’ll qualify to take the NCLEX-PN, and at the end of your second year of nursing coursework, you’ll be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN.
• All Treasure Valley Community College nursing grads who meet the admission requirements can transfer seamlessly into Bushnell College’s online BSN and MSN programs.
• This ADN program in Oregon also offers an LPN-to-RN Bridge program.
• With a three-year average passing rate of 92 percent, Treasure Valley Community College gets an A when it comes to NCLEX-RN prep.

7. Central Oregon Community College - Bend

Program Details: Central Oregon Community College accepts 56 students into its ADN pathway each fall. This program stands out for the high quality of the clinical experiences it’s able to offer students: The college maintains a close relationship with St. Charles Bend, the largest hospital in Central Oregon, and from their first term in this nursing program, students are already doing hands-on work with patients in that hospital. Other clinical rotation sites include Central Oregon Pediatric Associates, Deschutes County Recovery Center, Bend-LaPine School District, and Bend Transitional Care. COCC also has a state-of-the-art nursing lab that has mock hospital suites with beds and a complete array of fixtures, high-fidelity manikins, and a simulation bay with cameras and sound equipment; it’s here that you will first learn the skills that you use in patient care.

The typical nursing student schedule includes lecture coursework, labs, and clinical experiences, and you may find yourself hard at work any time between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Your class load will consist of a “Nursing” course that you’ll take over six quarter terms. Including prerequisites, you must complete 107 to 108 quarter credits overall. This program only accepts applicants who are residents of Deschutes, Jefferson, Crook, Klamath, Lake, and Wasco Counties.

Why Choose This Program

• Many of COCC’s nursing prerequisite courses are offered at its satellite campus in Madras as well as online.
• Students may apply for the CNA I or CNA II certification after completing three terms in Central Oregon Community College’s nursing program.
• Like several other 2-year RN programs in Oregon, Central Oregon Community College offers you a certificate of completion at the end of your first year of nursing coursework and the option of sitting for the NCLEX-PN exam.
• Central Oregon Community College offers licensed practical nurses with professional work experience, advanced placement into its associate nursing degree program.

8. Umpqua Community College - Roseburg

Program Details: “Foundations of Nursing – Health Promotions,” “Individual and Family Development,” and Pathophysiological Processes I & II” are just some of the classes you’ll get to take when you enroll in Umpqua Community College’s associate nursing degree program. The college’s competency-based curriculum adheres to guidelines developed by the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education.

In addition to the time you spend in the classroom, you can count on spending between 12 and 15 hours a week at clinical practice sites and at the Bonnie Ford Health, Nursing, and Science Center, which houses a sophisticated simulation facility replete with hospital equipment and realistic manikins on which you’ll be able to practice your newly learned bedside skills.

Why Choose This Program

• Want a way to earn money while you’re completing your ADN degree? This 2-year nursing program in Oregon prepares you to take the NCLEX-PN after your first year of nursing studies so you can get a comparatively high-paying LPN job while you complete your nursing education.
• The Oregon Promise Grant program may cover the tuition of recent high school graduates who enroll in this community college ADN program.
• Your ADN credits will transfer seamlessly to Oregon Health Sciences University’s BSN program should you want to continue your nursing education after graduation.


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