Best 9 LPN Programs in Arizona in 2024

Students who have a career objective to enter the nursing profession quickly will find that earning a license as a Practical Nurse (LPN, or sometimes referenced as a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)) is the shortest path to a professional nursing career. Students ready to enroll in one of the quality LPN programs in Arizona can select from one of these types of LPN programs in Arizona schools offer –

• A diploma program generally requires approximately 30 to 35-semester credit for completion over nine to twelve months.
• An associate degree program (ADN) includes a more well-rounded comprehensive education of nursing classes and a general education. ADN programs typically require the completion of approximately 60 credit units and may take upwards of 18 to 24 months to complete unless offered in an accelerated format. The Licensing forms for Arizona nursing licenses are available here.

Top 5 LPN Programs in Arizona

To earn an LPN license in Arizona, nursing students must first enroll, and successfully complete one of the LPN programs in Arizona approved by the Arizona State Board of Nursing (AZBN).  After graduating from one of the quality, AZBN-approved LPN programs in Arizona, an LPN graduate is then eligible to sit for the national NCLEX-PN exam. Arizona Licensed Practical Nursing licenses expire every four years.

According to the Arizona Board of Nursing, more than 10,500 LPNs are working in the state who have completed one of the 23 ADN or 5 LPN programs approved by the education department within the AZBN. The Arizona Board of Nursing requires graduates of LPN programs in Arizona to become licensed within two years after graduating or be required to complete a refresher program after passing the NCLEX-PN exam.

Each of the LPN programs in Arizona included in our analysis is regionally accredited by –

• The Council on Occupational Education
• The Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools
• The NCSBN or the National Council of State Boards of Nursing
• The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, or
• The Higher Learning Commission
• The Arizona State Board of Nursing

In addition, these LPN programs in Arizona have also been accredited through specialized nursing accreditation agencies like ACEN or CCNE, which indicates that each of these LPN programs in Arizona has met the strictest of academic standards.

LPN Reciprocity & the NLC – The Nurse Licensure Compact

Arizona is a state that participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). As a result, the state doesn’t require licensed nurses from other jurisdictions to obtain additional licensure to legally practice in Arizona. As of January 2018, Arizona nurses may now practice in other NLC states, as well.

To become an LPN in Arizona, students must complete a state-approved practical nursing diploma or degree program, which then makes each student eligible to sit for the NCLEX-PN exam.

Best 9 LPN Programs in Arizona

The Ranking Methodology

The ranked list of schools has been developed to assist students and their parents when researching which of the available LPN programs in Arizona will best meet their needs. In developing the above-noted analysis of LPN programs in Arizona by BestValueSchools.org, we chose nine LPN Programs in Arizona available across the state that meet the following criteria –

• These LPN programs are regionally and specialized, accredited, and licensed for operation in the state of Arizona.
• These LPN programs have disclosed NCLEX- PN pass rates (for the most recent reporting date) that exceed 90%.

The total program tuition fees used in the rankings analysis represent the tuition costs for the most current available school year (2020/2021 or 2019/2020) as disclosed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the USDE’s College Scorecard, or each of the programs’ websites.

The noted LPN programs in Arizona are listed with the most affordable programs shown first, as with program quality remaining equal, a more cost-effective program will tend to generate the best return on one’s education dollars invested and offer the fastest path to recovering the outlay of education costs.

To assist prospective students in evaluating the LPN program that will best meet their academic needs and budgets, it is helpful to know these broader NCLEX-PN statistics provided by the Arizona State Board of Nursing –

• The 2020 NCLEX- PN pass rate for the state of Arizona is 93.67%.
• The 2020 NCLEX- PN first time pass rate for the United States is 79.50%.

The above-noted NCLEX- PN pass rate statistics represent how graduates of an LPN program performed on the national licensing exam. As logic dictates, the greater the NCLEX- PN pass rate statistics, the more likely it will be for a student enrolled in that program to achieve similar success – because passing the NCLEX- PN exam is vital to starting a career as a professional nurse. In addition, nursing students who demonstrate consistently high pass-rates for the NCLEX- PN exam is indicative of the LPN program’s quality.  

Would you like to update the information included for any of the above-noted LPN Programs in Arizona?

Please contact BestValueSchools.org to allow us to update the program or school data used in the above-noted analysis.