Top LPN Programs in Georgia

Georgia will experience the nation’s second-highest nursing shortage between 2022 and 2032, according to a 2024 report from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

Licensed practical nurses (LPN) can help fill the gap.

Labor market forecasters project that more than 26,000 LPN jobs will become available in Georgia from 2020-2030. These projections include both newly created positions and vacancies arising from current LPNs exiting the field.

The following guide offers a ranking of the state’s top LPN programs in Georgia and an overview of the state’s LPN licensure and renewal requirements.

To obtain an LPN license in Georgia, you must meet the state’s education and exam requirements. LPNs must also pass a background check as part of the process.

Notably, the Georgia Board of Nursing (BON) will automatically consider you for multi-state licensure when you apply for your Georgia license. A multi-state license allows nurses to practice in any state that participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact.

After obtaining your high school diploma or equivalent, you must complete a pre-licensure nursing program. Georgia offers paths to LPN licensure for candidates who have completed schooling designed for LPNs, vocational nurses, or registered nurses (RNs).

Your educational program must have formal approval from the Georgia BON. This Georgia state resource contains categorized links to approved program lists. All online LPN programs in Georgia included in this ranking have board approval.

If you trained outside the U.S., the Georgia BON will need to verify your educational credentials. Georgia uses CGFNS International to perform this verification. You must also be a licensed nurse in your home jurisdiction at the time you apply.

The BON requires LPN applicants to achieve a passing score on the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN). You must pass the NCLEX-PN within three years of completing a board-approved education program.

If you’re unable to pass the NCLEX-PN within three years, you must return to school and complete the program to reset the three-year window.

To complete Georgia’s LPN licensing process, you must undergo a background check by registering with Fieldprint’s Georgia Application Processing Services on the same day to send your initial LPN license application to the BON.

Additional documentation requirements may apply if you have been arrested, or if you have a history of disciplinary action or sanctions related to a previous professional license. The board may ask for court documents related to your case(s) and/or letter(s) of explanation.

Georgia can only license U.S. citizens or documented immigrants as LPNs. You must submit an affidavit of U.S. citizenship or immigration documentation to the BON when you apply for your license.

In short, the current outlook for LPNs in Georgia is very promising.

Georgia offers LPNs a strong employment outlook. O*NET Online, a U.S. Department of Labor data resource, projects 19% job growth for LPNs in Georgia from 2020-2030. This exceeds O*NET Online’s national growth projection for the profession by nearly 400%.

According to O*NET Online data from May 2024, LPNs earn a median salary of $54,770 per year in Georgia. While this figure lags about 9% below the national median, remember that the cost of living in Georgia is lower than the national average by about the same margin.

You can also close the earnings gap by working in Georgia’s top-paying LPN markets, where the median salary comes much closer to the national average. O*NET Online’s data identifies these areas as the top-paying destinations for LPNs in Georgia:

Many of the state’s highest-paying destinations also rank among the largest employers of LPNs in Georgia. The table below highlights the 10 Georgia localities with the highest LPN employment, as identified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2023.

The insights on this page — excluding school descriptions — were reviewed by an independent third party compensated for their time by Accredited Schools Online. Page last reviewed on July 16, 2024.