12 Best LPN Programs in Tennessee – (Online & Campus-Based)

Written By: Pattie Trumble, MPP, MPH

If you want to pursue a career in nursing, graduating from one of the LPN programs in Tennessee can open many doors. LPN programs typically take 12 months or less to complete, and once you’re licensed, you can earn $46,540 a year. LPNs have many employment opportunities in the Volunteer State, which are projected to rise by 17 percent in the coming decade. Many nurses work for a few years as LPNs and then go back to school and build on the hands-on nursing skills they already have to become RNs or APRNs. The guide below to the 12 best LPN programs in Tennessee could be your stepping stone to an unlimited future!

WHAT ARE THE BEST LPN PROGRAMS IN TENNESSEE (ONLINE AND CAMPUS)?

Based on our Ranking Methodology, the following are the 12 best nursing schools for LPN programs in Tennessee.

1. Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Athens

Program Details: Workforce development is the name of the game at Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Athens: When you earn your LPN certificate from this educational institution, you can be confident you have the skills to land a job where you can earn a comfortable salary and make a real difference in patients’ lives. Classes begin each September, and the program takes one year to complete. All applicants must pass the HESI exam to remain competitive in the application process.

Once you’re accepted into this LPN program in Tennessee, earning your diploma will take you 1,296 hours. Required coursework includes “Medical Surgical Nursing I & II,” “Mental Health,” and “Pediatric Nursing.” Plan on spending 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays in the classroom.

In the college’s nursing lab, you’ll practice hands-on nursing skills, such as obtaining vital signs, administering medications, and flushing heparin locks. Theory is further integrated into practice through 500 hours of clinical rotations in long-term care settings, physicians’ practices, and hospitals throughout Athens and adjacent communities in McMinn County.

Why Choose This Program

• TCAT Athens students who are 18 or over and enrolled full-time in this licensed practical nursing program in Tennessee may qualify for a $2,000 tuition scholarship from the Tennessee Educational Lottery Scholarship program.
• Graduates of this licensed practical nursing program in Tennessee have a five-year NCLEX-PN pass rate that tops 95 percent.
• Once you complete 432 hours of the LPN curriculum, you’ll be eligible for certification as a nursing assistant.

2. South College - Knoxville

Program Details: South College offers its LPN program in Tennessee in Knoxville (Parkside campus) and Nashville. Applicants must achieve a basic passing score on the ATI TEAS exam to be considered for acceptance into the program. The 59-quarter-credit curriculum includes asynchronous online lecture courses, in-person skills labs, and clinical practicums.

Your class load will include courses like “Fundamental Concepts & Skills for Practical Nurses I & II,” “Medical Surgical Nursing I, II, & III,” and “Geriatric Nursing & Issues at the End of Life” spread out over four quarters (one year). Most courses include a drug calculation component, which you must pass with a score of 80 percent or higher to remain in the program in good standing.

You’ll learn the hands-on skills you need to deliver high-quality care by participating in simulations that utilize actual hospital equipment and high-tech manikins, which can be programmed to respond realistically to clinical stimuli. You’ll take part in clinical rotations at Blount Memorial Hospital, Hillcrest Healthcare, and other rehabilitation clinics, long-term care facilities, and acute care centers throughout the Greater Knoxville Metro Area.

Why Choose This Program

• If you agree to work for them after you attain your LPN license, Hillcrest Healthcare will subsidize your tuition for this licensed practical nursing program in Tennessee.
• Want to continue climbing the professional nursing ladder? South College offers an LPN-to-ASN (Associate of Science in Nursing degree) pathway.
• South College’s average three-year NCLEX-PN pass rate is an impressive 94 percent.

3. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton - Elizabethton

Program Details: While Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton’s LPN curriculum resembles other TCAT licensed practical nursing programs in Tennessee, this college’s hands-on clinical opportunities help it stand out. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton’s nursing simulation lab is a sophisticated facility that provides immersive learning scenarios to prepare LPN students for the situations they’ll encounter when they begin providing direct patient care. LPN students at Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton do clinical rotations at prestigious healthcare facilities such as Wellmont Health System, Mountain States Health Alliance, Franklin Woods Hospital, and Johnson City Medical Center.

TCAT-Elizabethton offers its LPN program in Tennessee at its Elizabethton, Johnson City, and Kingsport campuses. The program accepts new students in the spring and fall. All told, you’ll spend 1,296 hours on skills labs, clinical practicums, and lecture courses like “Maternity Health,” “Pediatric Health,” and “Advanced Medical/Surgical Nursing.”

Why Choose This Program

• Once you complete 432 hours of LPN coursework (including 35 clinical/laboratory hours) with a concentration in geriatrics, you’ll qualify for certification as a nursing assistant in Tennessee.
• The pass rates of first-time NCLEX-PN test-takers who graduate from Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton consistently exceed 90 percent.

4. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Shelbyville - Shelbyville

Program Details: TCAT Shelbyville’s LPN program may be one of the best licensed practical nursing programs in Tennessee for working students or students with pressing family obligations because, in addition to the daytime program, the college offers a part-time evening program that you can complete in 16 months. This evening LPN pathway is headquartered at the college’s Franklin County Extension campus. The college’s daytime LPN pathway is an intensive one-year program with lecture courses that meet Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., followed by skills labs and clinical experiences. This LPN pathway is taught at the college’s main campus in Shelbyville.

All applicants must pass the HESI exam with a score of 900 or higher to enter either of these LPN pathways. Both programs take 1,296 hours to complete, and 450 of those hours must be clinical hours. Like all the other licensed practical nursing programs in Tennessee offered by TCAT colleges, TCAT-Shelbyville’s program comprises 18 core nursing theory courses with classes like “Medical & Surgical Nursing I, II, & III,” “Mental Health,” and “Maternity Health.” The college also offers a course on basic intravenous therapy and the administration of IV medications.

You’ll begin learning the essential competencies you need for professional practice in sophisticated nursing skills labs. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Shelbyville partners with many long-term care and skilled nursing facilities throughout Shelbyville and Middle Tennessee to provide students with supervised direct patient care experiences.

Why Choose This Program

• TCAT-Shelbyville is constructing a new $45 million educational center that will greatly increase the number of students the college can admit into its LPN program.
• Need to work while you’re in school? This LPN program in Tennessee lets you earn a nursing aide certificate after you complete 324 curriculum hours.

5. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Nashville - Nashville

Program Details: Affordability and a high-quality curriculum make Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Nashville’s LPN track a great value. Like other TCAT-based LPN programs in Tennessee, this program takes a year to complete; you’ll spend 1,296 hours in lectures or participating in experiential learning. All applicants must attend a mandatory Information Session. Once you complete all prerequisites with a passing grade and fulfill all other entrance requirements, TCAT-Nashville accepts students into its LPN program on a first-come, first-served basis.

This LPN pathway is only offered as a full-time program. Foundational nursing coursework includes “Pharmacology I & II,” “Medical & Surgical Nursing I, II, & III,” and “Advanced Professional Vocational Relations.” Simulation is an integral part of your clinical coursework, and you’ll have the opportunity to work with actual hospital equipment and programmable manikins when you do your skills labs. TCAT-Nashville clinical rotations are scheduled at nursing homes, long-term care agencies, and acute care facilities throughout Metro Nashville.

Classes meet Monday and Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Wednesday and Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. You may need to participate in an evening or weekend clinical rotation, however, depending on what assignments partner healthcare facilities have available.

Why Choose This Program

• If you attend this LPN program, you may qualify to have up to $2,000 of your tuition covered through a Wilder-Naifeh Technical Skills Grant.
• Graduates of TCAT-Nashville’s LPN program typically ace the NCLEX-RN with an average five-year pass rate of 93 percent.

6. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Hartsville - Hartsville

Program Details: Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Hartsville offers its LPN pathway at its main campus in Hartsville and its auxiliary Wilson County campus in Lebanon. Successful applicants to this program must first pass the HESI exam. The program begins in September and lasts for one year, during which time you will complete 1,296 hours of classroom lectures, skills labs, and clinical experiences. Classes and labs are typically scheduled Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but clinical rotations may entail weekends and evenings depending upon what shifts TCAT-Hartsville’s clinical partners make available.

Foundational nursing courses include “Basic Nursing Principles,” “Maternity Health,” and “Medical & Surgical Nursing I & II.” The teaching pace is fast to keep you on top of your learning game! Nursing labs utilize hospital equipment and high-tech manikins to teach you skills such as obtaining vitals, applying wound dressings, and administering injections, which are an essential part of the LPN’s scope of practice. Clinical rotations will expose you to a variety of medical, surgical, and other types of practice settings in healthcare facilities throughout Hartsville and other communities around Nashville’s northeastern suburbs.

Why Choose This Program

• Students at this licensed practical nursing program in Tennessee perform well on the NCLEX-PN exam with a pass rate of 91 percent.
• Does your financial aid package fall short of the amount needed to enroll in Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Hartsville’s LPN program? You may qualify for additional financial assistance through the Tennessee Reconnect Grant, a “last dollar” scholarship that covers the shortfall.

7. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Huntsville - Huntsville

Program Details: Are you juggling work and family commitments along with your studies? The LPN program at Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Huntsville may be one of the best LPN programs in Tennessee for you because it offers part-time evening classes as well as full-time daytime classes. Evening classes meet four times a week, Monday through Thursday, from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., while daytime classes meet five times a week, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Classes are held at the college’s main campus in Huntsville and the Alvin C. Yorke Agricultural Institute.

Be prepared to hit the ground running! You’ll take 18 core nursing courses over a year for a total of 1,296 hours. Your classes will include “Basic Nursing Principles,” “Pharmacology 1 & II,” and “Medical & Surgical Nursing I & II,” and you’ll take a stand-alone course that focuses on the right way to administer IV medications. Your nursing labs provide hospital equipment, programmable manikins, and task trainers that allow you to develop and perfect the skills you’ll rely upon once you start working as a licensed practical nurse.

TCAT-Huntsville is known for the excellence of its clinical partnerships; you’ll participate in practicums and other types of experiential learning at prestigious healthcare facilities in Huntsville, Oneida, and other communities in Scott County, such as Jamestown Regional Medical Center, Oneida Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Quality Home Health, Jamestown, and the Scott County Health Department.

Why Choose This Program

• First-attempt NCLEX-PN test takers at Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Huntsville have pass rates greater than 93 percent.
• Interested in the healthcare challenges unique to the Appalachian region? Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Huntsville’s licensed practical nursing program is part of the Appalachian Regional Practical Nursing Program consortium.

8. Chattanooga State Community College - Chattanooga

Program Details: Chattanooga State Community College admits 24 licensed practical nursing students into its LPN program in Tennessee each fall. Though Chatt State doesn’t use the TCAT designation, it’s affiliated with the Tennessee Board of Regents System and uses TCAT’s LPN curriculum. Your core nursing coursework will include classes like “Basic Nursing,” “Med Surg I, II, & III,” and “Mental Health.” You must complete 1,306 hours out of the available 1,357 licensed practical nursing hours to earn your LPN certification. Your studies will take one year.

Chatt State has a nursing simulation lab with high-tech manikins and rooms set up like hospital units where you can learn and master clinical skills before participating in supervised patient care. You’ll be assigned to a variety of healthcare facilities throughout the Chattanooga Metropolitan Area to complete your clinical rotations, including Erlanger Health System, CHI Memorial Hospital, and Park Ridge Hospital.

Why Choose This Program

• 95 percent of Chattanooga State Community College’s LPN graduates are employed as licensed practical nurses within one year of attaining their LPN licenses.
• Want to keep climbing the professional nursing ladder? Chattanooga State Community College offers an LPN-to-RN program that can help you earn your Associate of Applied Science Degree in nursing.

9. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Crossville - Crossville

Program Details: Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Crossville is another one of the LPN programs in Tennessee that strives to accommodate working students by offering both a full-time daytime licensed practical nursing program and a part-time evening licensed practical nursing program. You’ll expand your healthcare knowledge in classes such as “Medical Surgical Nursing I & II,” “Pharmacology I & II,” and “Maternity Health.”

Daytime classes meet Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., while evening classes meet Monday through Thursday from 4:00 to 9:45 p.m. Be prepared to work hard because this program is fast-paced! You can complete the full-time program in a year, but it will take you 16 months to graduate from the part-time program.

Laboratory exercises and clinical experiences will play a significant role in your LPN learning. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Crossville makes task trainers and hospital equipment available to LPN students who are learning the essential hands-on skills that will be vital to their practice as professional licensed practical nurses. You’ll perform supervised patient care at long-term care facilities and other healthcare agencies in Crossville and other parts of Cumberland County.

Why Choose This Program

• After you complete 432 hours of coursework, you’ll qualify for a Nursing Aide certificate.
• LPN students at TCAT-Crossville may be eligible for the Tennessee Educational Lottery and Tennessee Promise scholarships, which could help pay their tuition costs.

10. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Morristown - Morristown

Program Details: Tennessee College of Applied Technology- Morristown is one of the largest TCAT institutions. The college admits new students into its licensed practical nursing program three times each year. If you want to start this LPN program in Tennessee in January, you’ll attend classes at the Newport Instructional Service Center; the main campus in Morristown and the Tazewell Instructional Service Center admit new students in May. If you want to begin the program in September, your options are the main campus and the Greeneville Instructional Service Center. The program is taught during the day only.

For admission into this licensed practical nursing program in Tennessee, you must score 70 or higher on the math and reading portions of the HESI entrance exam. Earning your LPN diploma will require 1,296 hours divided over lectures, skills labs, and clinical patient care experiences. Coursework will include “Medical and Surgical Nursing I & II,” “Mental Health,” and “Pediatric Nursing.” Tennessee College of Applied Technology- Morristown uses Swift River Simulations to prepare students for the challenges they will face as LPNs in the workforce. Clinical rotations will occur at nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and acute care agencies in Morristown and other communities throughout Hamblen, Cocke, and Greene Counties.

Why Choose This Program

• Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Morristown’s NCLEX-PN pass rate has averaged greater than 91 percent over five years.
• A year after attaining licensure, 100 percent of TCAT-Morristown’s LPN graduates find employment as licensed practical nurses.

11. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Hohenwald - Hohenwald

Program Details: As an LPN student at Tennessee College of Technology-Hohenwald, you’ll clock approximately half the 1,296 program hours mandated by the Tennessee Board of Nursing in clinical activities. This LPN program in Tennessee offers full-time day classes and part-time evening classes at its main campus in Hohenwald, at the Bevis Education Center in Collinwood, at the Maury Regional Medical Center Instructional Service Center in Columbia, and the Wayne Medical Instructional Service Center in Waynesboro. You’ll have to score 70 or higher on the HESI entrance exam before you can be considered for this program.

You’ll take the courses the Tennessee Board of Nursing has approved for the licensed practical nursing pathway, such as “Mental Health,” “Maternity Health,” and “Medical and Surgical Nursing I & II.” You’ll engage in real-time exercises and simulated computer scenarios that will help you develop and hone basic nursing skills. You’ll also participate in supervised patient care experiences at Maury Regional Medical Center, Wayne Medical Center, and other hospitals and long-term facilities throughout Lewis, Columbia, and Wayne Counties.

Why Choose This Program

• Tennessee College of Technology-Hohenwald prepares LPN students well for the NCLEX-PN exam. Their average licensure rate is 98 percent.
• Looking for job security? 92 percent of LPN graduates from Tennessee College of Technology-Hohenwald find employment within one year of attaining licensure.

12. Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Dickson - Dickson

Program Details: Plan on becoming entirely immersed in your studies for a year when you enroll in the LPN pathway at Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Dickson. You’ll be busy attending lecture courses and participating in skills labs every Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Your clinical hours will depend upon what shifts TCAT-Dickson’s clinical affiliates make available. Classes begin in September at the college’s campuses in Clarksville and Dickson.

Students must score 70 or higher on the reading and math portions of the HESI exam to be considered for this licensed practical nursing program in Tennessee. Your coursework will include in-depth instruction about the health issues of the primary patient populations you’ll be encountering as a licensed practical nurse, such as “Medical and Surgical Nursing I & II,” “Maternity Health,” and “Pediatric Nursing.” You’ll also take a two-part “Pharmacology” course.

Skills labs utilize computer simulation as well as real-life modeling so that students will become comfortable with essential hands-on nursing tasks. Supervised clinical rotations at hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout Dickson and Montgomery Counties will further strengthen your patient care skills.

Why Choose This Program

• LPN students at Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Dickson can earn a nursing aide certificate after their first trimester of coursework.
• TCAT-Dickson participates in the Early Technical College initiative, which allows 12th-grade students the opportunity to enroll in the first semester of the LPN curriculum while they’re still in high school. If these high school students successfully pass these studies, they’re guaranteed admission into TCAT-Dickson’s LPN program.
• Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Dickson hosts a Nursing Career Fair each trimester, drawing over 15 healthcare agencies from Dickson County and neighboring communities. This event aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of their employment opportunities in the healthcare sector.


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Frequently Asked Questions Answered By Our Expert

1. Who Accredits LPN Programs In Tennessee?

2. What Is The Starting Salary For New Graduates Of These Programs In Tennessee?

3. What Is The Average Salary For LPN Nurses In Tennessee?

4. Average LPN Salary In Tennessee VS. Average LPN Salary In The Nation: Who Earns More?

5. What Is The Metro-Wise Average LPN Salary In Tennessee?

6. What Is The Job Outlook For LPN Graduates In Tennessee?

7. How Many Job Openings Are There For Graduates Of These Programs In Tennessee?

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