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Most Popular Nursing Basic Certificate Schools

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2023 Most Popular Nursing Basic Certificate Schools

45 Colleges

Finding the Best Nursing Basic Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, 322,592 degrees and certificates were awarded to nursing students, making the major the most popular in the country.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which healthcare program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Most Popular Nursing Basic Certificate Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 45 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular basic certificate programs for healthcare students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Nursing program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for nursing majors pursuing a basic certificate.

#1

Gaston College

Dallas, NC

Our 2023 rankings named Gaston College the most popular school in the United States for nursing students working on their basic certificate. Located in the midsize suburb of Dallas, Gaston College is a public college with a small student population.

Women make up 94% of the nursing majors at the school.

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#2

Pikes Peak Community College

Colorado Springs, CO

Out of the 45 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Pikes Peak Community College landed the # 2 spot on the list. PPCC is a large public school located in the suburb of Colorado Springs.

Women make up 90% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at Pikes Peak Community College Report

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#3

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Lone Star College System is a great place for nursing students working on their basic certificate. North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of The Woodlands.

Women make up 86% of the nursing majors at the school.

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#4

Butler Community College

El Dorado, KS

The in-demand basic certificate programs at Butler Community College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular nursing schools in the United States. Butler CC is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of El Dorado.

Women make up 79% of the nursing majors at the school.

Full Nursing at Butler Community College Report

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Central Virginia Community College is a great place for nursing students working on their basic certificate. Central Virginia Community College is a small public school located in the city of Lynchburg.

Of the 145 students majoring in nursing at Central Virginia Community College, 7% are male and 93% are female.

Full Nursing at Central Virginia Community College Report

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El Paso Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of El Paso, El Paso Community College is a public school with a very large student population.

About 80% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 20% are male.

Full Nursing at El Paso Community College Report

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#7

Blue Ridge Community College

Weyers Cave, VA

Blue Ridge Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. BRCC is a small public school located in the rural area of Weyers Cave.

Of the 88 students majoring in nursing at BRCC, 11% are male and 89% are female.

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Covenant School of Nursing and Allied Health did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for nursing students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Lubbock, Covenant School of Nursing is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

About 95% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 5% are male.

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Rappahannock Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular basic certificate nursing programs. RCC is a small public school located in the rural area of Glenns.

About 98% of the students majoring in nursing at the school are women while 2% are male.

Read full report on Nursing at Rappahannock Community College

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#10

Central Georgia Technical College

Warner Robins, GA

With a ranking of #10, Central Georgia Technical College did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for nursing students working on their basic certificate. CGTC is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Warner Robins.

Women make up 95% of the nursing majors at the school.

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Nursing by Region

View the Most Popular Nursing Basic Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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