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Nursing & Nursing Assistants Major

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Nursing & Nursing Assistants

239 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
0 Master's Degrees Annually
#243 in Popularity
$29,580 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Nursing & Nursing Assistants Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many practical nursing and nursing assistants graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate 43,520
Basic Certificate 38,505
Associate Degree 2,006
Bachelor’s Degree 239
Doctor’s Degree 4

What Nursing & Nursing Assistants Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to practical nursing were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Practical Nursing Majors

Practical Nursing majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

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  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Skills for Practical Nursing Majors

A major in practical nursing prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

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  • Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Practical Nursing Majors

As you progress with your practical nursing degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

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  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Nursing & Nursing Assistants Major?

People with a practical nursing degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses 12.3% $46,240
Nursing Assistants 11.5% $28,540

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing & Nursing Assistants?

239 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
79% Percent Women
100% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 239 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in practical nursing and nursing assistants in 2021, making it rank #243 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 79% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of practical nursing majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 1
Black or African American 11
Hispanic or Latino 224
White 0
International Students 1
Other Races/Ethnicities 2

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Practical Nursing, too. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

  • South Korea
  • Canada
  • China
  • Kenya
  • Jamaica

How Much Do Nursing & Nursing Assistants Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that practical nursing and nursing assistants students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree made a median starting salary of $14,156 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $14,156 (25th percentile) and $14,156 (75th percentile).

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We don’t know for sure if all of these people took jobs related to practical nursing so take that into consideration.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $29,580 to $47,050 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to practical nursing. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Nursing & Nursing Assistants Major  ( 29580 to 47050 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with practical nursing require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for practical nursing careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 2.7%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 21.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 36.6%
Some College Courses 25.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 13.0%
Bachelor’s Degree 0.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 0.2%

Online Nursing & Nursing Assistants Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 1,293 schools offered some type of practical nursing and nursing assistants program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 1,125 10
Certificate (2-4 Years) 57 0
Associate’s Degree 114 5
Bachelor’s Degree 2 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 2 0
Post-Master’s 2 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 1 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 1 1
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Nursing & Nursing Assistants Worth It?

The median salary for a practical nursing grad is $29,580 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to practical nursing.

Major Number of Grads
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596
Health Sciences & Services 35,945
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 29,833
Mental & Social Health Services 29,053
Medicine 28,629
Dental Support Services 26,399
Communication Sciences 22,298
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 20,393
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 18,901
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services 10,751
Health/Medical Prep Programs 9,210
Other Health Professions 7,984
Dentistry 6,770
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 6,158
Bioethics/Medical Ethics 5,115
Alternative Medicine & Systems 3,564
Chiropractic 2,658
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies 2,374
Medical Illustration & Informatics 2,089
Optometry 1,822
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 1,775
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services 960
Medical Science 909
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies 294
Alternative Medical Support Services 227
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies 68

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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