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Nursing Assistants & Aides

A program that prepares individuals to perform routine nursing-related services to patients in hospitals or long-term care facilities, under the training and supervision of a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse.

Types of Degrees Nursing Assistants & Aides Majors Are Earning

People majoring in Nursing Assistants & Aides have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	992
Associate’s Degree	42
Master’s Degree	8,333

What Nursing Assistants & Aides Majors Need to Know

Programs in Nursing Assistants & Aides develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Nursing Assistants & Aides graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Nursing Assistants & Aides emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 2.8 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 3.0 / 7.
• Public Safety and Security — Importance 3.2 / 5; level 3.0 / 7.
• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 3.1 / 5; level 2.5 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set emphasized by a Nursing Assistants & Aides program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Service Orientation — Importance 4 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.2 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3 / 7.
• Monitoring — Importance 3.2 / 5; level 3 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.1 / 5; level 3 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to Nursing Assistants & Aides careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Near Vision — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Speech Recognition — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Nursing Assistants & Aides graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.2 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.1 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.0 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	3.9 / 7
Performing General Physical Activities	3.8 / 7
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings	3.8 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	3.7 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	3.6 / 7
Developing and Building Teams	3.6 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Nursing Assistants & Aides professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Health information database software	Data base user interface and query software	—
YouTube	Video creation and editing software	—
Billing software	Billing and invoicing software	—
Medical procedure coding software	Medical software	—
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
Telemetry software	Medical software	—
Apache Spark	Business intelligence and data analysis software	—
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
FaceTime	Video conferencing software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
GE Healthcare Centricity EMR	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Nursing Assistants & Aides graduates include:

• Ward Helper
• Nurse Assistant
• Hospital Aide
• Nursing Assistant
• Hospital Corpsman
• Health Aide
• Hospice CNA (Hospice Certified Nursing Assistant)
• Inpatient Nursing Aide
• Nursing Attendant
• Institutional Aide
• Certified Residential Medication Aide (CRMA)
• Medication Aide
• Nurses’ Aide
• Hospital Attendant
• Certified Nursing Attendant (CNA)

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Nursing Assistants & Aides graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
High school diploma or equivalent	38.7%
Postsecondary certificate	24.0%
Some college courses	12.2%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	9.8%
Bachelor’s degree	6.1%
First professional degree	3.8%
Master’s degree	2.8%
Less than a high school diploma	2.7%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Nursing Assistants & Aides?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 88.3% of Nursing Assistants & Aides degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	39,353	88.3%
Men	5,197	11.7%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Nursing Assistants & Aides graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	20,135	45.2%
Asian	2,025	4.5%
Hispanic or Latino	10,529	23.6%
Black or African American	7,410	16.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native	647	1.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	123	0.3%
Two or More Races	1,789	4.0%
Race Unknown	1,465	3.3%
International Students	427	1.0%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Nursing Assistants & Aides Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Nursing Assistants & Aides graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$45,399
4 years	$42,279
5 years	$47,962

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $47,962 — roughly 6% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Is a Degree in Nursing Assistants & Aides Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Nursing Assistants & Aides graduates earn a median of $42,279 four years after completion — roughly 11% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants	99,987
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training	50,931
Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants, Other	4,506
Health Aide	488

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.