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Practical Nursing (LPN/LVN): Schools, Apprenticeships & Licensing by State

Two ways in: pay for school (1,250 U.S. schools offer Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants programs at certificate/associate level, median net price $10,043/yr) or get paid to train (417 registered apprenticeship programs in the federal database). State board of nursing licensure required everywhere (NCLEX-PN); many programs are Pell-eligible; hospital-sponsored programs sometimes cover tuition for work commitments.

US schools (category)
1,250
Median net price / yr
$10,043
Median earnings (10 yrs after entry)
$38,679
school-wide medians, all programs
Apprenticeship programs
417
paid training

Working practical nursing (LPN/LVN) professionals earn a median of $63,760/yr nationally — state medians range from $50,220 (Mississippi) to $83,150 (Washington). Wage data: U.S. Dept of Labor via CareerOneStop.

Licensing at a glance — 10 states verified so far

State license required: Texas, Florida, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan.

We've verified licensing rules for 10 states so far, each cited to the official board on its state page — more are being added. States not listed above may well require a license: always confirm with your state's licensing authority before enrolling.

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Practical Nursing (LPN/LVN) schools & apprenticeships by state

About half of states run their own apprenticeship agencies (including NY, MN, OR, VT, WA, DC) and are under-reported in the federal database — a low count there does not mean apprenticeships don't exist in that state.

School data: U.S. Dept of Education College Scorecard (most recent release, pulled July 2026). Apprenticeship data: U.S. Dept of Labor. Licensing summaries cited to official state boards per state page. Methodology.