Did you know that most LPN programs in Alabama take 12 months or less to complete? You read that right! In just one year, you can prepare for a career that will enable you to earn $45,260 a year and connect with patients on a basic human level. Working as a licensed practical nurse is an excellent way to determine whether you want to move into registered nursing. If you don’t, no worries because there are many employment opportunities for LPNs in the Yellowhammer State, and demand for their services will rise by 10 percent in the next 10 years. For more information, check out this list of the 12 best LPN programs in Alabama.
Based on our Ranking Methodology, the following are the 12 best nursing schools for LPN programs in Alabama.
Program Details: Chattahoochee Valley Community College’s three-semester licensed practical nursing program in Alabama has three tiers. Following your first semester of coursework, you’ll qualify for the Alabama Nurse Aide Certification Exam; after your second semester, you can take the Alabama Medication Aide Certification Exam. Finally, once you complete your third semester, you’ll be ready to take the NCLEX-PN.
The 45-credit curriculum includes prerequisites and four core nursing courses: “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidenced Based Clinical Reasoning.” You’ll be taught skills like obtaining vital signs, administering medications, and drawing blood that are part of an LPN’s scope of practice in the Cotton State in Chattahoochee Valley Community College’s nursing lab, which relies upon the SIMTICS system to simulate a wide variety of medical procedures. You’ll also participate in clinical experiences at long-term care facilities, physician practices, and hospitals throughout Phenix City and other parts of Lee and Russell Counties.
Why Choose This Program
• Want to continue your nursing education? Chattahoochee Valley Community College offers an LPN-to-RN mobility pathway.Program Details: Coastal Alabama Community College’s LPN program in Alabama is designed to help you join the workforce immediately upon graduation. The 45-credit program, taught at the college’s campuses in Thomasville and Atmore, admits new students three times a year in the spring, summer, and fall. Applicants must take the ACT exam, and admission preference is given to applicants with professional experience in an ancillary healthcare profession, such as nursing assistants, medical assistants, EMTs, and phlebotomists.
This is one of the licensed practical nursing programs in Alabama whose curriculum follows guidelines set forth by the Alabama Board of Nursing. Foundational nursing coursework combines lectures, labs, and clinical experiences; you’ll take courses such as “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence-Based Clinical Reasoning.” The college’s nursing simulation lab, which features health monitoring equipment and high-tech manikins, provides a safe learning environment for acquiring hands-on skills. You’ll also participate in clinical experiences at physician practices and acute care settings associated with Infirmary Health and other healthcare providers in Alabama’s Gulf Coast Region.
Why Choose This Program
• Coastal Alabama Community College’s nursing simulation lab is one of only four accredited nursing simulation labs in the state.Program Details: Wallace State Community College admits new students into its licensed practical nursing program in Alabama in the fall and spring. The LPN pathway is offered at WSCC’s campuses in Hanceville and Oneonta.
The LPN program is part of the college’s associate nursing degree program: You’ll receive a Practical Nursing Certificate after three semesters, which qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX-PN exam. You are free to continue taking courses for an additional two semesters so you can earn your ADN, but many students opt to leave school after completing their LPN studies.
For an LPN certificate, you must complete 45 credits (21 general education credits and 25 core nursing credits) and participate in 1,050 hours of hands-on learning. There are four core nursing course requirements: “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence Based Clinical Reasoning.” Clinical rotations are scheduled at Huntsville Hospital, Marshall Medical Centers, Riverview Regional Medical Center, Marshall Manor Nursing and Rehab, Barfield Healthcare/Rehab Select, and South Hampton Nursing and Rehab. Wallace State Community College also has a simulation center equipped with the latest technology where you can learn and practice nursing skills before working directly with patients.
Why Choose This Program
• Wallace State Community College’s School of Nursing and Center for Science has earned the coveted “Center of Excellence in Nursing Education” designation from the National League for Nursing.Program Details: Southern Union State Community College’s licensed practical nursing program is another one of the LPN programs in Alabama, where an LPN certificate is a tiered step in the ADN progression. After you successfully complete the third semester of foundational nursing coursework, you’ll become eligible to sit for the NCLEX-PN exam. The LPN curriculum consists of 45 credits and 1,080 clinical hours. You should be able to complete this pathway in one year (three semesters.)
The program admits new students three times a year. The Wadley campus admits new students during the summer semester, while the Opelika campus admits new students in the spring and fall.
Foundational nursing coursework includes “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence Based Clinical Reasoning.” Your participation in simulated clinical exercises will help prepare you for supervised patient care experiences at long-term care facilities and acute-care environments throughout Eastern Alabama.
Why Choose This Program
• 90 percent of Southern Union State Community College’s nursing students who pursue LPN licensure find jobs within one year of attaining that licensure.Program Details: Calhoun Community College offers its LPN program in Alabama at its Decatur and Huntsville campuses. You can start the program in the spring or fall. All applicants must score well on the ACT and HESI-A2 exams to be accepted into this licensed practical nursing program in Alabama.
The LPN track is part of the associate nursing degree track, and most Calhoun Community College students who earn a licensed practical nursing certificate go on to complete an ADN. Your LPN certificate will take you three semesters to earn, and there are four basic nursing courses you must complete: “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence Based Clinical Reasoning.” You must earn a grade of 75 percent or higher in each nursing course you take to remain in the program.
You’ll practice the basic hands-on skills you’ll need as a licensed practical nurse in the Cotton State at the college’s state-of-the-art simulation lab on the Huntsville campus. You’ll perform clinical rotations at Huntsville Hospital and other hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout the Huntsville-Decatur Metropolitan Area.
Why Choose This Program
• Interested in climbing the professional nursing ladder after you’ve earned your LPN certificate? Calhoun Community College offers an LPN-to-RN Bridge program.Program Details: Gadsden State Community College doesn’t offer its licensed practical nursing program in Alabama every year, it only offers it when there is sufficient demand. The college offers this nursing program at its campuses in Gadsden, Centre, and Anniston. Classes begin in the summer and fall.
Like several other LPN programs in Alabama, the college’s nursing program is “stackable,” meaning that its LPN pathway is offered as a stage of its associate nursing degree program. The program is only open to applicants who are certified through the Alabama Department of Public Health as nursing assistants or through the Alabama Board of Nursing as medication assistants.
The curriculum consists of 43 credits of general education and core nursing courses like “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence-Based Clinical Reasoning.” Gadsden State’s simulation center is a showpiece—it’s even equipped with an electronic health record system! You will begin developing your clinical skills in this safe, realistic environment. Clinical rotations are scheduled at long-term care facilities and other healthcare agencies throughout the Greater Gadsden Metro Area.
Why Choose This Program
• Eager to continue your nursing education? Gadsden State Community College offers a mobility option that allows LPNs to earn their associate nursing degree and sit for the NCLEX-RN!Program Details: Northwest Shoals Community College offers a stand-alone LPN program on its campus in Muscle Shoals and a three-semester licensed practical nursing pathway that’s a stop on the road to a five-semester associate nursing degree at its Phil Campbell campus. You can use the same application to apply to both programs.
Like many LPN programs in Alabama, NSCC’s LPN program used a conceptual framework developed by the Alabama Community College to determine its nursing curriculum. To earn your LPN certificate, you must complete 45 credits, including general education coursework and four foundational nursing courses: “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence-Based Clinical Reasoning.” You’ll participate in supervised patient care experiences at North Alabama Medical Center and other medical institutions throughout northwestern Alabama’s Shoals region. You’ll also have the chance to refine your hands-on skills in NSCC’s nursing simulation lab, which is furnished with hospital equipment and medical manikins programmed to respond to a broad spectrum of medical situations, from wellness checks to heart attacks and strokes.
Why Choose This Program
• Northwest Shoals Community College has a state-of-the-art mobile simulation unit equipped with replicas of hospital rooms and geriatric, pediatric, and adult manikins.Program Details: Shelton State Community College offers two options for its LPN program in Alabama. As is the case with many other Alabama licensed practical nursing programs, the LPN certificate is offered as a choice to nursing students once they complete the first three semesters of the associate nursing degree track. This option is provided at the Bibb campus (fall admission) and the Martin campus (spring admission.)
However, the college also administers a stand-alone LPN program at both the Bibb and Martin campuses that offers evening classes. This makes it one of the best licensed practical nursing programs in Alabama for students whose family or work obligations rule out daytime academic commitments. This pathway is also offered in the spring and fall.
All applicants must attend a mandatory Health Services Programs Information Session before their application will be considered. The 45-credit LPN course requires 1,035 clinical hours as well as foundational nursing courses such as “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence-Based Clinical Reasoning.” You’ll master the essential hands-on skills you need for a successful nursing career at the college’s Nursing Skills lab, which is outfitted with medical equipment, hospital supplies, manikins, and advanced trainers. Your clinical rotations will take place at Bibb Medical Center and other skilled nursing facilities and healthcare systems in Tuscaloosa and adjacent communities throughout West Alabama.
Why Choose This Program
• In conjunction with Bibb Medical Center—one of the partners in its LPN track—Shelton State Community College sponsors an apprentice program that pays nursing students for participating in clinical rotations.Program Details: Though Northeast Alabama Community College’s LPN curriculum offers the same core nursing courses all community colleges in Alabama offer, the program focuses especially on challenges facing licensed practical nurses in rural healthcare settings. Aspiring LPNs can either sign up to earn the college’s freestanding LPN certificate or complete the first three semesters of the college’s associate nursing degree pathway. The stand-alone LPN pathway begins in the spring, while the associate nursing degree pathway begins in the fall.
All applicants must score at least 18 on the ACT exam. Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 in all required general academic courses. In addition to general education coursework, there are four nursing courses in the 46-credit LPN major: “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence-Based Clinical Reasoning.” You’ll reinforce newly learned hands-on skills in NACC’s Nursing Skills Laboratory, which is furnished with bedside units, high-tech manikins, and hospital equipment and supplies. You’ll put what you’ve learned into practice performing supervised patient care at long-term care facilities and acute care settings throughout communities in northeastern Alabama.
Why Choose This Program
• Northeast Alabama Community College’s impressive 97 percent NCLEX-PN pass rate is top-notch!Program Details: Central Alabama Community College’s licensed practical nursing program in Alabama is a stand-alone LPN pathway that was launched in response to the Cotton State’s escalating nursing crisis. The three-semester program consists of 45 credits and includes general education coursework and prerequisites in addition to an essential framework of four core nursing classes.
All applicants must take the ACT exam. CACC’s LPN program is available at its campuses in Alexander City and Childersburg and its instructional centers in Talladega Center and Prattville. It begins three times a year in the spring, summer, and fall.
Count on spending three to five days a week between lecture courses, simulation exercises, and clinical rotations. The rigorous academic training you receive in core nursing classes like “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence-Based Clinical Reasoning” will be supplemented by clinical exercises in the college’s state-of-the-art nursing simulation lab. You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in supervised patient care experiences at hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other healthcare providers throughout Alexander City and other communities in Tallapoosa, Talladega, Autauga, and Elmore Counties.
Why Choose This Program
• Want to keep expanding your nursing knowledge base? Central Alabama Community College has an LPN-to-RN program.Program Details: Interested in Lawson State Community College’s licensed practical nursing program in Alabama? You’ll need to take the ACT exam and apply separately to LSCC and its nursing division. The program is only taught at the college’s Bessemer campus and admits new students in the summer and the fall. This LPN program in Alabama offers both a daytime and an evening track.
The 49-credit licensed practical nursing curriculum extends over three semesters and includes courses like “Adult Nursing,” “Introduction to Pharmacology,” and “Role Transition for the Practical Nurse.” You’ll gain skills and confidence by participating in skills intensives at LSCC’s nursing simulation lab and taking part in supervised clinical practicums at healthcare facilities throughout Bessemer and the Greater Birmingham Metropolitan Area.
Why Choose This Program
• While Lawson State Community College is a historically Black college, it welcomes students from all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.Program Details: Are you worried that your professional or family commitments may keep you from pursuing the licensed professional nursing career you’ve always dreamed of? Bishop State Community College offers an LPN program in Alabama with evening classes and weekend clinicals! New students are admitted into this LPN pathway in the fall and spring semesters. All LPN classes are taught at the college’s Baker-Gaines Central campus in Mobile.
BSCC’s LPN program involves 45 credits and 1,035 contact hours of labs and practicums. You’ll take a variety of general education courses and four foundational nursing courses: “Fundamental Concepts of Nursing,” “Nursing Concepts I & II,” and “Evidence-Based Clinical Reasoning.” The college’s new Center for Nursing & Health Sciences helps LPN students bridge the gap between theory and practice with a simulation lab stocked with pediatric and adult manikins on which they can practice newly learned hands-on skills. You’ll also have the opportunity to apply what you’re learning by working with patients in real-world settings at hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout the Mobile Metro Area.
Bishop State Community College also offers an LPN option as part of its traditional associate nursing degree program: Students who wish to get an LPN license can sit for the NCLEX-PN exam after successfully completing their third semester of classes.
Why Choose This Program
• Though Bishop State Community College is a historically Black college, it embraces diversity and welcomes students from all walks of life, regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion.S.No. | Accrediting Body |
1 | Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) |
Hourly | $16.21 | ||||
Weekly | $648 | ||||
Monthly | $2,810 | ||||
Annual | $33,710 | ||||
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) |
Hourly | $23.23 | ||||
Weekly | $929 | ||||
Monthly | $4,030 | ||||
Annual | $48,320 | ||||
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) |
Average Alabama LPN Annual Salary | Average National LPN Annual Salary | Difference | |||
Number | % | ||||
$48,320 | $60,790 | -$12,470 | -20.51% | ||
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) |
Metro | Hourly | Weekly | Monthly | Annual | |
Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville | $22.33 | $893 | $3,870 | $46,440 | |
Auburn-Opelika | $21.59 | $864 | $3,740 | $44,910 | |
Birmingham-Hoover | $25.54 | $1,022 | $4,430 | $53,130 | |
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley | $23.95 | $958 | $4,150 | $49,820 | |
Decatur | $23.57 | $943 | $4,090 | $49,030 | |
Dothan | $19.90 | $796 | $3,450 | $41,400 | |
Florence-Muscle Shoals | $21.06 | $843 | $3,650 | $43,810 | |
Gadsden | $22.64 | $906 | $3,930 | $47,100 | |
Huntsville | $24.11 | $964 | $4,180 | $50,140 | |
Mobile | $23.00 | $920 | $3,990 | $47,830 | |
Montgomery | $22.79 | $912 | $3,950 | $47,410 | |
Tuscaloosa | $22.86 | $914 | $3,960 | $47,540 | |
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) |
Occupation | Employment | New Employment Growth (2020-2030) | |||
2020 | 2030 | Number | % | ||
LPN | 12,060 | 13,210 | +1,150 | +9.54% | |
(Source: Careeronestop.org) |
Occupation | New | Replacement | Annual Job Openings (New + Replacement) | ||
LPN | 115 | 955 | 1,070 | ||
(Source: Careeronestop.org) |