Give
Practical nursing
Overview
Now accepting applications for Fall 2025
Be an essential part of a health care team. Take the next step in your nursing career with Stark State College’s licensed practical nurse (LPN) program.
Working under the direction of a Registered Nurse (RN), advanced practice practitioner or physician, you will provide quality care to patients and their families – from administrating medication and conducting nursing assessments to dressing wounds and phlebotomy.
LPNs work in a wide range of medical settings, like:
- Hospitals, physicians’ offices, nursing homes and health care clinics
- Extended care facilities and ambulatory care centers
- Schools and camps
- Correctional facilities
- Patient homes
Graduates of Stark State’s practical nursing program are eligible to sit for the NCLEX Practical Nursing exam to receive licensure.
Why Stark State?
- Earn your certificate for a fraction of the cost. Stark State has the lowest tuition in northeast Ohio, making it possible to earn your certificate with little to no debt.
- Choose from flexible program options. Day and evening/weekend programs are available.
- Get tailored, real-world training. Our program features small class sizes and hands-on training in simulation labs and clinical sites.
- Start your pathway to become an RN. You can transfer your credits into the associate degree in nursing (ADN) program for further advancement.
Take the next step with Stark State
- The day program offers a fall semester and spring semester start with classes Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
- The evening/weekend program offers a spring semester start ONLY with classes two evenings a week from 4-9:30 p.m. and clinical experiences every Saturday from 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
- All classes and labs are held at Stark State College Akron.
- Clinical experiences take place at health care facilities within a 75-mile radius.
- There are 46 seats available with each new cohort.
Enroll
Once you’re ready to get started on your nursing pathway, follow these easy steps for new student enrollment. Advisers at the Gateway Center are happy to help you. Let them know that you are interested in pursuing a practical nursing major.
You must submit these items to the Akron Gateway Center to be considered for admission:
- Completed PN application
- Background check email from SSC security office
- TEAS test results
All items must be turned in together prior to the June 15 deadline for the fall cohort or December 1 for the spring cohort. The admission committee will review applications and notify applicants by email if they are accepted or declined for admission.
Once accepted, students must complete a mandatory orientation to receive information about CPR, drug screen, health records, uniforms and ID badges.
Courses
Your pathway to a certificate
Background checks
Criminal background checks will be required for all nursing students before beginning nursing courses and on an annual basis. Depending on the individual’s criminal background, it may not be possible to provide required clinical placements.
According to Section 4723.28 of the Ohio Revised Code, nursing students are responsible for informing the department chair/director of nursing, early and during the program, of any misdemeanor related to alcohol or drugs, or felony convictions so that students may be informed of the steps the Ohio Board of Nursing will take before considering their application to sit for the licensing examination.
According to Ohio HB327: anyone previously convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or had a judicial finding of guilt for an egregious felony will be precluded from initial licensure. Egregious felonies are: aggravated murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, felonious assault, kidnapping, rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary.
Candidates who wish to sit for the NCLEX-PN (licensing examination) will be required to submit their fingerprints to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
For more details, contact the Ohio Board of Nursing website at nursing.ohio.gov.
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