Lees Summit itself has almost no standalone practical nursing programs, but ZIP 64063 sits inside a Kansas City, MO metro that holds several Missouri State Board of Nursing approved options within about a 40-minute drive, from Metropolitan Community College campuses to smaller career-technical centers.
That geography forces a real decision: pay more for a shorter commute, or drive further for a program with a stronger NCLEX-PN pass rate and lower total cost. Tuition, schedule format, and state approval status all move independently of each other here, and confusing accreditation with board approval is the most common (and costly) mistake applicants make.
Where Lees Summit LPNs Actually Work
Which employers actually hire a newly licensed LPN around Lees Summit? The honest answer: not the big hospitals first. New-grad practical nurses in this corner of the Kansas City metro land most reliably in long-term care, home health LPN, and outpatient clinics, not acute-care floors.
The Local Employer Mix
The bread and butter for entry-level LPNs here is skilled nursing and long-term care. Facilities like Ignite Medical Resorts advertise staff rates in the $30 to $42 per hour range1, and many area SNFs consider new grads at manager discretion. Beyond nursing homes, the other major LPN employers include:
- Assisted living and memory care communities across Lees Summit, Blue Springs, and Independence, often the fastest path to a first job.
- Physician offices and specialty clinics, where CVS Health and similar employers post a wide $22.40 to $48.67 per hour band tied to experience.
- Home health agencies such as Swope Health, offering roughly $24 to $28 per hour for full-time home care roles.
- School and correctional health, which pay on annual contracts (Hickman Mills C-1 lists $37,865 to $53,2642) and frequently prefer some pediatric or clinical experience.
Why Hospitals Are Scarcer
Missouri LPNs practice under the supervision of an RN or physician. In plain terms, an LPN in Missouri gathers assessment data, administers many medications, performs wound care and routine procedures, and documents patient status, but the RN owns the initial nursing assessment and care-plan decisions. Because acute-care hospitals lean on RNs for that assessment and complex care, dedicated LPN roles on hospital floors are limited. Long-term care, where residents are more stable and LPNs handle a larger share of daily care, is where the volume of new-grad openings sits.
How Far to Commute
Don't box yourself into Lees Summit's 64063 zip. A realistic 40-mile commute puts Independence, Blue Springs, Raytown, Kansas City proper, Belton, and Harrisonville within reach, plus Overland Park, KS if you hold or add a Kansas credential. Casting that wider net matters early in your career, when you are competing for the entry-level slots that don't require prior experience. Contract and travel LPN work in the metro pays more (roughly $35 to $48 per hour), but those postings almost always expect experience first.
Program Length, Evening Options, and Whether Online LPN Training Is Real
The real tradeoff here is time versus flexibility: most LPN programs in Missouri near Lees Summit run as three-semester, full-time certificates, and any promise of a fully online, work-around-your-shift LPN track deserves skepticism. Program length, credit hours, and schedule formats vary by school and by academic year, so treat any number you read online, including ours, as a starting point to verify with admissions directly.
What Program Length Actually Looks Like
Among Missouri programs that publish current figures, a three-semester, roughly 50 to 60 credit-hour structure is the common shape. Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City lists its Practical Nursing Certificate at 52.5 to 56.5 credits and shows Regular (Day & Eve) session starts in its class search, though evening delivery of the PN certificate itself is not separately confirmed and should be verified with the nursing department. Moberly Area Community College publishes a 50-credit, three-semester sequence (17, 19, and 14 credits) for 2026. Mineral Area College's 2026-2027 brochure shows a Regular Track at 58 total credits and an Advanced Placement Track at 61 credits, both across three semesters. MCC Omaha, well outside the 40-mile radius, runs 62 credits over about 12 months as the first year of an ADN pathway.
Online LPN Training, Honestly
Fully online LPN programs are not a real thing. Online or hybrid delivery in this field is typically limited to the theory (didactic) portion. Clinical hours, skills labs, and preceptorships still happen in person at partner hospitals, long-term care facilities, and simulation centers. If a program advertises 100% online LPN training, ask exactly where the clinicals occur and how they are supervised.
A Short Checklist to Take to Admissions
- Clock hours vs. credit hours: Ask which the program uses and how that maps to weekly time.
- Track type: Full-time only, or is there a part-time, evening, or weekend track?
- Hybrid structure: Which courses are online, and how are labs and clinicals scheduled?
- Start dates: Fall-only, or multiple entry points per year?
- Accreditation and approval: Confirm current status through the Missouri State Board of Nursing approved-program list and ACEN or NLN CNEA where applicable.
Cross-check against the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for national norms on entry-level education, and treat the individual school website as the final word on curriculum in effect this year.
Missouri Board Approval, Accreditation, and NCLEX-PN Pass Rates Near Lees Summit
Every practical nursing program in Missouri has to hold approval from the Missouri State Board of Nursing before it can graduate students who sit for the NCLEX-PN, so state approval is the first thing to verify and the easiest to confirm. National accreditation through ACEN or NLN CNEA is a separate, voluntary layer that some Missouri PN programs carry and many do not; for the programs closest to Lee's Summit, we could not confirm ACEN or CNEA status in the public sources we reviewed, and you should ask each school directly rather than assume. Program-level NCLEX-PN pass rates are published by the Missouri board but are not always posted in an easily accessible current format, so the table below shows what is documented and flags what is not. For context, Missouri's statewide first-time NCLEX-PN pass rate was 91.9% across 1,191 candidates in 2025, a useful benchmark when a school quotes you its own number.
| Program / School | City (Distance from Lees Summit) | MO Board of Nursing Approval | National Accreditation | Most Recent NCLEX-PN First-Time Pass Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Community College, Penn Valley Practical Nursing (LPN certificate) | Kansas City, MO (about 20 miles northwest) | Board-approved practical nursing program; Missouri State Board of Nursing publishes program-level PN results | ACEN or CNEA accreditation not identified in the sources reviewed; confirm with the school | Not published in accessible 2025 to 2026 summaries |
| Concorde Career College, Kansas City Practical Nursing (LPN diploma) | Kansas City, MO (about 20 to 25 miles northwest) | Board-approved practical nursing program; included in Missouri State Board of Nursing education reports | ACEN or CNEA accreditation not identified in the sources reviewed; confirm with the school | Not published in accessible 2025 to 2026 summaries |
| Cass Career Center Practical Nursing (LPN certificate) | Harrisonville, MO (about 25 miles south) | Board-approved practical nursing program; included in Missouri State Board of Nursing education reports | ACEN or CNEA accreditation not identified in the sources reviewed; confirm with the school | Most recent cohort rate not reported publicly |
| Applied Technology Services, North County Practical Nursing | Florissant, MO (outside the 40-mile radius; shown for statewide comparison) | Listed among Missouri board-approved PN programs in statewide NCLEX pass-rate reporting | State approval confirmed; ACEN or CNEA status not documented in cited sources | 86% |
| Applied Technology Services, South County Practical Nursing | Sunset Hills, MO (outside the 40-mile radius; shown for statewide comparison) | Listed among Missouri board-approved PN programs in statewide NCLEX pass-rate reporting | State approval confirmed; ACEN or CNEA status not documented in cited sources | 86% |
| All Missouri PN programs combined (statewide benchmark) | Statewide, Missouri | All PN programs must hold Missouri State Board of Nursing approval to operate | Varies by program | 91.9% across 1,191 first-time candidates in 2025 |
Related Articles
The Full Price Tag of Becoming an LPN in the Kansas City Metro
Tuition is the number that gets advertised, but it is not the number you write checks against. Practical nursing carries a stack of one-time costs that land before you ever hold a license: books, scrubs and a stethoscope, a criminal background check and immunization updates, standardized entrance and exit testing, the NCLEX-PN seat fee, and the Missouri licensure application. The two fixed items at the end are the same for every candidate in the state, so budget for them from day one.
LPN Pay in Lees Summit and the Kansas City Metro
LPN wages in Missouri have climbed enough over the past few years that the old assumption of practical nursing as a low-paid holding pattern no longer holds up cleanly. The most recent federal wage data available as of fall 2026 covers May 2025, since the next annual update has not been published yet, so every figure below describes where the market stood roughly a year ago rather than what a hiring manager might quote you this week.2
What Missouri LPNs earn
Statewide, about 14,320 LPNs were employed in Missouri, with an average annual wage near $58,900.1 The middle of the pay distribution tells you more: roughly a quarter of Missouri LPNs earned at or below about $51,000, and a quarter earned above about $63,440.1 That puts the typical Missouri LPN somewhere in the mid to upper $50,000s. Those estimates carry small published margins of error, so treat them as a reliable range rather than a precise number.1
For comparison, the national median for licensed practical nurse and vocational nurse roles sat around $64,400 in the same period.3 Missouri, in other words, tends to run modestly below the national midpoint, which is consistent with the state's broader cost-of-living position.
How Lees Summit fits in
The federal wage survey does publish a dedicated release for the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area, which includes Lees Summit and Jackson County.2 Metro-area LPN wages in Kansas City have historically tracked at or slightly above the Missouri statewide figures, reflecting the density of hospital systems, long-term care operators, and outpatient clinics across the metro. We are not going to put a specific Kansas City dollar figure in front of you that we cannot verify against the current release, but the statewide range above is a defensible planning baseline for Lees Summit job searches.
What actually moves your number
- Setting: Skilled nursing and long-term care, correctional health, and home health frequently pay differently than clinic or physician-office roles.
- Shift: Nights, weekends, and PRN coverage carry differentials that can add meaningfully to annual pay.
- Crossing the state line: Kansas-side employers in Overland Park and Olathe are within commuting distance, and licensure in both states is worth considering.
Also note that these surveys count wage and salary jobs only, so agency and independently contracted LPNs are not fully represented.
What You Need to Get In
Practical nursing admissions in the Kansas City area are competitive but predictable. Requirements vary by school and change year to year, so confirm details with the program before you pay for an entrance exam, but the gates below are the ones that show up again and again at Missouri PN programs serving Lee's Summit students.
- High school diploma or HSE, plus a minimum GPAEvery Missouri practical nursing program expects a diploma, GED, or HiSET. Minimum GPA thresholds range widely: East Central College sets the floor at 2.0, SEH College at 2.5, and State Fair Community College requires a 2.75 cumulative average in prerequisite and required coursework for its Professional Certificate in Practical Nursing. Some technical centers, including Lex La-Ray, publish no GPA minimum at all and rank applicants on other criteria.
- Prerequisite courseworkCommunity college PN certificates typically want general education finished or in progress. State Fair lists BIO 207, BIO 208, MATH 112, and ENGL 101 or 102, usually with a C or better. SEH College requires AH 201 Human Diversity in Healthcare before acceptance. Technical center programs generally carry lighter prerequisite loads. Metropolitan Community College's practical nursing certificate runs roughly 52.5 to 56.5 credit hours total; MCC has not published its 2026 admissions specifics, so contact the nursing office directly.
- Entrance exam, TEAS or HESI A2Expect one standardized test. Lex La-Ray uses the ATI TEAS with a 46% minimum, and weights reading and math heavily in its ranked scoring. State Fair sets a higher ATI TEAS bar at 58.7%, and SEH College requires a 58%. East Central College uses the HESI A2-LPN and wants a reading score of at least 77%. Check how recently your score must have been taken, Lex La-Ray's 2026 review only accepted TEAS results dated on or after April 15, 2025.
- Background check and the Family Care Safety RegistryMissouri requires anyone working with patients to register with the Family Care Safety Registry through the Department of Health and Senior Services. Lex La-Ray applicants must submit the registry form and fee before the application deadline; other programs run background screening after conditional acceptance. Programs also commonly require a drug screen, current immunizations, a physical exam, and BLS/CPR certification before clinical rotations begin. A disqualifying finding can end your application, so resolve questions about your record early.
- Cohort starts and application deadlinesMost Missouri PN cohorts launch in the fall, with application files closing in the spring. Lex La-Ray set an April 15, 2026 deadline with a $45 application fee and admits only the top 29 applicants. That structure is typical, plan to have your entrance exam, transcripts, and registry paperwork complete six to twelve months before you intend to start classes.
- CNA credential, rarely required, often an advantageNone of the programs reviewed here list CNA certification as mandatory. Lex La-Ray, however, awards two points per allied health certification, CNA, CMT, EMT, LIMA, or phlebotomy, within the portion of its score reserved for past performance. In a ranked, 29-seat cohort, that margin matters. Working as a CNA first also gives you patient-care hours and a realistic picture of bedside nursing before you commit.
Top Practical Nursing Programs Serving Lees Summit Students
Below are the top practical nursing programs serving Lees Summit students, ranked by cost, completion outcomes, accreditation status, and program fit. Every entry sits within a reasonable drive of the city, and each comes with a note on who it suits best: career changers, evening students, or applicants watching the bottom line.
How we ranked these
- Median graduate debt loads
- Institutional graduation and completion rates
- Accreditation and state board approval
- Net price and metro tuition rates
- Program format and scheduling fit
- College Scorecard graduate earnings — collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Internal program database
- Independent editorial research
- IPEDS institutional survey data from NCES covering retention rates, student-faculty ratios and net price — nces.ed.gov
Cass Career Center
Cass Career Center in Harrisonville runs a practical nursing diploma that takes about 10.5 months and holds approval from the Missouri State Board of Nursing. Classes stay small, and the hybrid schedule pairs in-person skill practice with a limited number of planned virtual days. Lecturers cover pharmacology, anatomy, and physiology alongside clinical rotations in hospitals, clinics, and long-term care, and Cass County students can tap local Cass Community Health Foundation scholarships and Missouri workforce grants that lower the bottom line.
Practical Nursing, Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Lex La-Ray Technical Center
Lex La-Ray Technical Center in Lexington admits just 29 practical nursing students each year through a TEAS-ranked selection process. The 2026-2027 cohort begins August 24, 2026 and finishes July 1, 2027, blending biological and behavioral sciences with clinical rotations across a wide variety of care settings. Financial aid and scholarships are available, and the TEAS score carries most of the weight in admission decisions.
Practical Nursing, Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Kansas City Kansas Community College
Kansas City Kansas Community College offers a 45-credit Practical Nurse Certificate designed to finish in roughly two semesters, with fall and spring start dates. Admission is selective: a 2.50 GPA, a passing TEAS score, and active Kansas Certified Nurse Aide status are all required. Missouri residents in Jackson and Cass counties pay a reduced metro tuition rate, which makes this one of the more cost-effective cross-border options for Lees Summit commuters.
Nursing/Practical Nurse Certificate — On-Campus
Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City
Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City delivers a Missouri Board of Nursing approved practical nursing certificate that can be completed in under a year, with fall and spring starts. Instruction happens at the Health Science Institute in Kansas City, and coursework spans patient care, diagnostic tests, IV therapy, medication administration, and health education. The application window for a spring start runs July 15 through September 30, 2026, and many Lees Summit ZIP codes fall outside the college taxing district, so the out-of-district rate applies.
Practical Nursing Certificate — On-Campus
Johnson County Community College
Johnson County Community College in Overland Park runs a nine-month full-time practical nursing certificate, or 14 months part time, with three start dates a year and cohorts capped at 32 students. Training takes place at the Olathe Health Education Center simulation lab, with clinical rotations in hospitals, clinics, and long-term care. Lees Summit residents in 640 ZIP codes qualify for a discounted Metro Rate, but Kansas licensure comes first here: the program does not meet Missouri requirements for initial practical nursing licensure, so plan on reciprocity.
Practical Nursing (LPN) Certificate — On-Campus
Concorde Career College-Kansas City
Concorde Career College-Kansas City offers a 66-credit practical nursing diploma with a 13-month full-time track and a part-time evening and weekend option. The blended format mixes classroom, lab, and clinical work, including 188 lab hours and 695 clinical hours, with NCLEX-PN review built into the curriculum. Missouri Board of Nursing approval means graduates can pursue Missouri licensure directly rather than through reciprocity.
Practical Nursing Diploma Program — Hybrid
Warrensburg Area Career Center
Warrensburg Area Career Center is an adult-focused practical nursing program with full Missouri State Board of Nursing approval and Council on Occupational Education accreditation. Students rotate through hospitals, nursing homes, physicians' offices, home health, and school settings, and evening or night clinical rotations may be scheduled. Its partnership with Western Missouri Medical Center adds a monthly stipend during training plus bonuses tied to a three-year work commitment after licensure.
Practical Nursing, Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Donnelly College
Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas offers a four-semester practical nursing certificate built on relationship-centered, culturally sensitive care. The program currently holds conditional approval from the Kansas State Board of Nursing and is not admitting new practical nursing students, so Lees Summit applicants can complete prerequisites there but cannot start the nursing sequence right now. Missouri residents who do enroll later handle their own board fees, NCLEX registration, and fingerprinting.
