Pompano Beach has one practical nursing program inside the city: Hope College of Arts and Sciences. Seats sit in Coconut Creek, Fort Lauderdale, Davie and Hollywood, all inside a 40-mile band along Broward County's healthcare corridor, so the first decision most applicants make is a commute, not a curriculum.
The second is cost. Net price runs from under $3,000 at a district technical center to north of $13,000 at a private college, for certificates that take roughly 12 to 18 months full time.
Florida Board of Nursing approval decides whether any of it counts: without it, graduates cannot sit for the NCLEX-PN, and pass rates vary sharply among approved programs.
LPN Schools in and Near Pompano Beach, Ranked
Below are the top practical nursing programs serving Pompano Beach students, presented in ranked order. What separates them for a local applicant is cost after aid, how many students finish, and whether the campus is a realistic drive from the 33060 to 33069 ZIP codes; graduation rates here are institution-wide rather than practical nursing specific, and net price is an average after aid rather than a quoted bill. Hope College of Arts and Sciences also runs a practical nursing diploma inside Pompano Beach city limits, and it is not part of the ranked cards below.
How we ranked these
- Median graduate debt
- Institution-wide graduation rates
- Net price after aid
- Accreditation and board approval
- Commute distance to campus
- Internal program database
- Independent editorial research
- IPEDS institutional survey data from NCES covering graduation rates, retention rates and student-faculty ratios — nces.ed.gov
- College Scorecard graduate earnings — collegescorecard.ed.gov
FVI School of Nursing and Technology
FVI School of Nursing and Technology is a single-focus nursing and technology college in Miami with a second site in Miramar, and it reports the highest institution-wide graduation rate in this group at about 89%. Its practical nursing diploma runs 18 months with rolling admissions, so students can start without waiting for a fall or spring cohort. Miami and Miramar sit roughly 25 to 40 miles south of Pompano Beach, and the average net price after aid is near $35,500, the steepest here. Median graduate debt runs about $9,400.
- 18-month diploma covering 57 total credit hours
- Rolling admissions with NCLEX-PN preparation built into the curriculum
- Simulation labs plus clinical rotations at hospitals and rehab centers
- Success coaches, tutoring and job placement assistance
- Financial aid and scholarships available for qualifying students
- Approved by the Florida Board of Nursing
Practical Nursing Diploma — On-Campus
HCI College
HCI College is a private college with campuses in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, which gives Pompano Beach students a Broward site about 15 miles south as well as a Palm Beach County location about 35 miles north. Its practical nursing diploma takes 16 months and mixes classroom instruction with clinical rotations across medical-surgical, geriatric, obstetric and pediatric care. Required materials and uniforms are provided at no extra cost, and career placement assistance is available to graduates. The average net price after aid is about $35,400, with tuition and fees listed near $20,800.
- 16-month diploma combining theory with supervised clinical rotations
- Coursework spans medical-surgical, pharmacology, geriatrics, obstetrics and pediatrics
- Required materials and uniforms provided at no extra cost
- Career placement assistance for graduates
- Financial aid available for those who qualify
- Offered at West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale campuses
Practical Nursing Diploma — On-Campus
Southeastern College-West Palm Beach
Southeastern College's Boynton Beach campus is about 20 miles north of Pompano Beach, a shorter drive than the Miami options for many Broward residents. The practical nurse diploma is a 12-month, 43-credit program built on six sequential nursing courses, with clinical experience at hospitals and extended care facilities. Admission requires the ATI TEAS exam and a program panel interview, and federal student aid is available. Its institution-wide graduation rate is about 88%, and the average net price after aid runs near $28,800.
- 12-month diploma delivered across six sequential nursing courses
- 43 total credit hours with clinicals at hospitals and extended care facilities
- ATI TEAS entrance exam required for admission
- Federal student aid available for those who qualify
- Prepares graduates for long-term care, home health and outpatient roles
- Program panel interview required as part of admission
Practical Nurse Diploma — On-Campus
Sheridan Technical College
Sheridan Technical College is a Broward County public technical college in Hollywood, roughly 20 miles south of Pompano Beach, so Broward residents qualify for in-county tuition. The 12-month practical nursing program runs five start dates a year and the college reports a 92% licensure pass rate, with clinical placements in acute care, long-term care and hospice settings. The average net price after aid lands near $6,700, among the lowest in this group. The college also reports a 50% job placement rate, a number worth questioning directly on a campus visit.
- 12-month program with five start dates across summer, fall, winter and spring
- Accredited by ACEN and approved by the Florida Board of Nursing
- College reports a 92% licensure pass rate
- Curriculum covers medical, surgical, obstetric, pediatric and geriatric nursing
- Clinical experience in acute care, long-term care and hospice settings
- Basic Life Support training and employability skills built in
- Pathway to continue toward RN or BSN study
Practical Nursing, Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Miami Dade College
Miami Dade College is one of the largest public colleges in the country, and its one-year LPN career technical certificate runs at the Medical Campus in downtown Miami, about 35 miles south of Pompano Beach. The program is ACEN accredited, requires prerequisite coursework plus TABE and TEAS testing, and reports an 80% licensure pass rate with 89% job placement. Because MDC is a Miami-Dade County institution, Pompano Beach students should plan on out-of-county tuition rather than the in-county rate. The in-state average net price after aid is about $5,500, and the institution-wide graduation rate is roughly 46%.
- One-year career technical certificate taught at the Medical Campus
- ACEN accredited and approved by the Florida Board of Nursing
- Prerequisite courses plus TABE and TEAS pre-admission tests required
- College reports an 80% licensure pass rate
- Program reports 89% job placement
- Coursework covers fundamentals of nursing, anatomy, pharmacology and adult health
- Financial aid and scholarships available
Licensed Practical Nursing Career Technical Certificate — On-Campus
Lindsey Hopkins Technical College
Lindsey Hopkins Technical College is a Miami-Dade public technical college whose practical nursing program covers 1,350 hours of instruction, with at least half of that time spent in clinical settings such as hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. Admission requires the TEAS exam, and the application fee is $20. The program includes 675 clinical hours and is approved by the Florida State Board of Nursing. The campus sits about 35 miles south of Pompano Beach, and the average net price after aid is about $6,200, though Broward residents should expect out-of-county tuition.
- 1,350 hours of instruction, with at least half spent in clinical settings
- 675 clinical hours across hospitals, nursing homes and clinics
- TEAS entrance exam required for admission
- Application fee of $20
- Approved by the Florida State Board of Nursing
- Coursework includes medical-surgical, maternal, pediatric and geriatric nursing
Practical Nursing, Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
William T McFatter Technical College
McFatter Technical College is a Broward County public college in Davie, about 20 miles southwest of Pompano Beach, so Broward residents pay in-county rates. Its 12-month practical nursing program is ACEN accredited, starts five times a year, and the college reports a 97% licensure pass rate along with 77% job placement. Tuition is listed at $3,780, with total program cost for Florida residents at $6,525 including fees and books. Classes run full time Monday through Thursday, so this is a daytime commitment, and the average net price after aid is about $11,900.
- ACEN accredited program with five start dates each year
- 12-month program with tuition listed at $3,780
- Total program cost of $6,525 for Florida residents, including fees and books
- College reports a 97% licensure pass rate
- Integrated simulation and clinical experiences
- Full-time day schedule, Monday through Thursday
- Admission requires a high school diploma or GED plus the TEAS exam
Practical Nursing, Certificate or Diploma — Hybrid
Atlantic Technical College
Atlantic Technical College is the nearest public option to Pompano Beach, with its Coconut Creek campus about 8 miles west and practical nursing instruction based at its Fort Lauderdale site. The 12-month program is ACEN accredited and offers five start dates a year, and the college reports a 99% licensure pass rate with 97% job placement, the strongest outcomes in this group. Tuition is listed at $3,780, the average net price after aid is about $10,400, and admission requires the TEAS or HESI plus an FDLE Level II background check. The college also advertises money-back guarantee eligibility and transferable college credit.
- ACEN accredited and approved by the Florida Board of Nursing
- 12-month program with five start dates across the year
- College reports a 99% licensure pass rate
- Tuition listed at $3,780 for the full program
- Admission requires the TEAS or HESI and an FDLE Level II background check
- Money-back guarantee eligibility for qualifying students
- College credit transfer opportunity toward further nursing study
Practical Nursing, Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Palm Beach State College
Palm Beach State College sits in Lake Worth, about 30 miles north of Pompano Beach, and its one-year practical nursing career certificate is a limited-access program that starts in spring and requires a mandatory information session plus the HESI entrance exam. Coursework covers medical-surgical, pharmacological, geriatric and pediatric nursing with clinical training at local health care facilities, and the certificate transfers directly into the college's Associate in Science in Nursing. Program tuition is listed at $7,000, the average net price after aid is about $9,200, and median graduate debt is around $7,100. As a Palm Beach County college it charges Broward residents out-of-county rates, and its institution-wide graduation rate is about 41%.
- One-year practical nursing career certificate
- Approved by the Florida Board of Nursing
- HESI entrance exam and a mandatory information session required
- Program tuition listed at $7,000
- Starts in spring; limited-access application required
- Transfers into the Associate in Science in Nursing
- Coursework covers medical-surgical, pharmacology, geriatric and pediatric nursing
Practical Nursing Career Certificate — On-Campus
HCA Florida Mercy Hospital School of Practical Nursing
HCA Florida Mercy Hospital School of Practical Nursing is hospital based, so students complete classroom work and supervised patient care inside a working Miami hospital about 40 miles south of Pompano Beach. The roughly one-year program is ACEN accredited and approved by the Florida Board of Nursing, and clinical placements center on the Mercy hospital system rather than on Broward facilities. That means a commute into Miami for both class days and clinical shifts. The average net price after aid is listed near $9,100.
- One-year hospital-based practical nursing program
- ACEN accredited and approved by the Florida Board of Nursing
- Supervised patient care on hospital units alongside real care teams
- Prepares graduates for the NCLEX-PN exam
- Clinical training centered on the Mercy Hospital system in Miami
- Prepares students for Florida licensure in about a year
Practical Nursing Program, Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
What a Practical Nursing Certificate Actually Costs Here
The spread is wider than most applicants expect
Across the LPN programs in Florida within driving range of Pompano Beach, average net price runs from roughly $2,839 at Miami Lakes Educational Center to $13,325 at Hope College of Arts and Sciences, the practical nursing program based in Pompano Beach itself. That gap is structural, not arbitrary. District-run technical colleges price by clock hour under a state-set rate: Atlantic Technical College bills $3,780 in-state tuition for its 1,350-hour program, about $2.80 per clock hour, versus $11.20 for out-of-state residents. Private and proprietary schools carry no district subsidy, so their sticker price absorbs the full cost of instruction.
Read the flyer totals, not just tuition
Atlantic's published 2025-2026 practical nursing total lands at $4,766 in-state and $16,106 out-of-state. Stacked on top of tuition are a $608 lab fee, $100 registration, a $20 activity fee, $13 liability insurance, $47 accident and health coverage if you aren't already covered, and roughly $108 for the compliance screening bundle. McFatter Technical College publishes $6,525 in-state and $17,865 out-of-state for 2026, which includes $1,067 in bundled institutional fees, $1,253 in books and supplies, and $425 toward industry certification and state credential exams.1
Budget past tuition, then check your debt exposure
Things the published tuition figure rarely covers on its own:
- Application and lab fees: $20 activity fees are common at area technical colleges; lab fees are separate and sizeable.
- Uniforms, shoes, stethoscope and supply kits: usually folded into a books-and-supplies estimate rather than itemized.
- Background check and drug screen: Atlantic bundles Level II screening into its compliance fee; other schools bill it directly.
- Entrance and progression testing: TEAS or HESI on the way in, plus ATI or HESI exit testing in some programs.
- Licensure: the Florida application fee and the NCLEX-PN test fee, which the technical college flyers do not itemize.
A workable rule of thumb for affordable LPN programs at public schools: whatever tuition figure you see, budget another 60 to 75 percent on top. On borrowing, median debt at graduation sits near $7,081 at Palm Beach State and $9,252 at Miami Dade College, but $17,229 at Hope College. Program-level monthly repayment figures for these certificates are not yet published. And remember that net price is a school-wide average after aid, not a quote for your seat in the nursing cohort.
Where the Money Goes in a Broward County LPN Program
A practical nursing certificate in Broward County is not one bill, it is six. Tuition is charged per clock hour at a rate set by the district, so that slice is fixed no matter where you shop. The smaller slices are where students actually control spending.
Board Approval, Accreditation and How Local Grads Do on the NCLEX-PN
Florida Board of Nursing approval is the one credential you cannot compromise on: if a practical nursing program is not approved by the Board, its graduates are not eligible to sit for the NCLEX-PN, which means no license and no LPN job in Florida no matter how good the coursework looked. Programmatic accreditation (ACEN, COE, or ABHES) is a separate layer that speaks to quality review and, in most cases, determines whether a school can award federal financial aid, but it is state approval that controls your path to the exam. The most recent statewide figure published for Florida shows a first-time NCLEX-PN pass rate of 78.56 percent for 2024; program-level pass rates for the Broward County schools below are not included in the Board's public comparison listing, so ask each program directly for its most recent first-time rate and confirm its current approval status (including any probationary designation) on the Florida Board of Nursing's program comparison tool before you pay a deposit.
| Program (School) | City | FL BON Approval Status | Accrediting Body | Most Recent NCLEX-PN Pass Rate (Year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Technical College, Practical Nursing | Coconut Creek, FL | Approved (not listed as probationary, verified September 2026) | Not specified as ACEN, COE, or ABHES in the Board's comparison listing | Not published in the Board's comparison listing as of September 2026 |
| Sheridan Technical College, Practical Nursing | Hollywood, FL | Approved (not listed as probationary, verified September 2026) | Not specified as ACEN, COE, or ABHES in the Board's comparison listing | Not published in the Board's comparison listing as of September 2026 |
| William T. McFatter Technical College, Practical Nursing | Davie, FL | Approved (not listed as probationary, verified September 2026) | Not specified as ACEN, COE, or ABHES in the Board's comparison listing | Not published in the Board's comparison listing as of September 2026 |
| Broward College, Practical Nursing | Broward County, FL (multiple campuses; main practical nursing listing falls within 40 miles of Pompano Beach) | Approved (not listed as probationary, verified September 2026) | Not specified as ACEN, COE, or ABHES for the practical nursing program in the Board's comparison listing | Not published in the Board's comparison listing as of September 2026 |
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What You Need Before You Can Apply
Broward County practical nursing programs screen applicants in stages, and each gate has its own paperwork. Here is what the local programs publish.
- High school diploma or equivalencyA diploma or GED is the baseline at Atlantic, Sheridan and McFatter Technical Colleges. None of these programs publishes a numeric minimum GPA for admission, so your entrance exam score carries most of the weight.
- Entrance and basic skills testingBroward's technical colleges use the TEAS, with a published 55% overall requirement across the four content areas. Atlantic also accepts HESI A2 at 70%, though it does not administer HESI on campus. McFatter expects basic skills at grade level 11 plus passing all four TEAS sections. Sheridan uses TEAS-VI. Fortis College instead uses the Wonderlic SLE with a minimum score of 19.
- Florida Level 2 background screening and drug testingExpect FDLE Level 2 screening with fingerprinting and a negative pre-admission drug screen at all four programs.
- Health documentationA completed physical and immunization record are required; Broward technical colleges list Tdap, annual flu and COVID-19 vaccination. Fortis requires a physical less than 365 days old. Confirm BLS for Healthcare Providers certification and TB testing directly with your program before clinicals.
- Where applicants stumbleTesting dates and screening turnaround. Passing scores must be on file before program orientation, and fingerprint results can take weeks, start both early.
Aid, Grants and Workforce Funding Florida LPN Students Can Use
Most LPN candidates in Broward County are weighing two uncomfortable options: pay tuition out of pocket while working, or borrow for a certificate that takes about a year. There is usually a third route, and it is the one fewest applicants ever pursue.
Start with Pell, but verify the program qualifies
Federal aid is the base layer, and at the schools in and near Pompano Beach it is the norm rather than the exception. Pell recipients make up roughly 97% of undergraduates at Miami Dade College, 92% at Palm Beach State College, 91% at FVI School of Nursing and Technology, 86% at Concorde Career Institute in Miramar, 84% at Southeastern College, 83% at Florida National University, and 81% at Hope College of Arts and Sciences in Pompano Beach. Those are institution-wide figures, not practical nursing numbers. Pell only reaches you if the practical nursing program itself is Title IV eligible. Florida PN certificates commonly run about 1,350 clock hours across 45 weeks, and clock-hour programs are funded on different rules than credit-hour ones, so get the program's Title IV status confirmed in writing before you budget around it.
Florida state aid has real limits for certificate students
The Florida Student Assistance Grant requires Florida residency, degree-seeking enrollment, at least six semester hours (12 at private and postsecondary institutions), unmet need of at least $200, and no prior bachelor's degree. Priority goes to Pell-eligible students with exceptional need. That degree-seeking requirement is the catch: a straight practical nursing certificate often will not meet it. Florida does allow state aid for qualifying career certificate students up to 110% of the required clock hours, so ask your financial aid office which state programs, including the Florida Work Experience Program, your specific enrollment status makes available.
Workforce funding, employers and payment plans
CareerSource Broward is the most under-used option on this list. Eligible Broward County residents may receive a training scholarship of up to $12,000 covering tuition, books and supplies. Eligibility is determined through their intake and assessment process, and funding generally flows to approved training providers, so confirm your school and program qualify before you enroll, not after.
Also ask long-term care operators and hospital systems about tuition assistance for employees, and ask schools about installment plans. Broward College, for example, handles payment plan enrollment through myBC via OneAccess; terms differ by institution.
What LPNs Take Home in the Fort Lauderdale Metro
Federal wage data for this occupation is published unevenly by metro area, so the most reliable current benchmark for Pompano Beach LPNs is the Florida statewide figure.
Who Hires LPNs in Pompano Beach and Across Broward County
LPN job descriptions pulled from around Broward County show LPN pay stretching from roughly $22 to $23 an hour at the low end up to $48 to $50 an hour at the top, a spread wide enough to matter when you're comparing two offers.12
Federal wage data for the broader Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro (Pompano Beach's reporting area) puts the mean hourly wage at $28.01, but that single number hides a lot. Formal 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentile breakdowns aren't published separately for this metro, so treat the job-posting range as a real-world proxy rather than an official statistic.
What Separates Bottom From Top
Setting explains most of the gap. Facility-based roles in skilled nursing and rehab, staff jobs at places like Baptist Health, tend to cluster in the mid-$20s to low $30s.1 Home health and private-duty registries, including agencies like Ready Caregivers and Team Select Home Care, often post higher ceilings because they price in night, weekend and one-on-one shift differentials.3 Hospital-affiliated postings, such as those tied to Mount Sinai Medical Center, land at the top of the range, usually reserved for LPNs with acute-care experience or specialty certifications.4
Employer Types Worth Knowing
- Skilled nursing and rehab facilities: Steady volume of openings, moderate pay, predictable scheduling.
- Assisted living communities: Common entry point, pay generally trails hospital and home health settings.
- Hospital systems: Fewer LPN slots but the strongest pay ceiling when available.
- Home health and staffing agencies: Flexible hours, pay often boosted by differentials.
- Physician offices and specialty clinics: Steadier daytime schedules, pay usually mid-range.
Where the Jobs Are
A Pompano Beach LPN can realistically commute to Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Boca Raton and Coconut Creek without adding serious drive time, which meaningfully widens the hiring pool beyond the immediate zip code.
Statewide, LPNs make up a smaller share of the healthcare workforce than the national average, but Florida's aging population continues to support steady, if not explosive, demand for practical nurses in long-term care and home-based community health LPN settings.
Getting Licensed in Florida After You Graduate
Moving Up: LPN-To-RN and BSN Routes in South Florida
A practical nursing certificate in Broward County comes with a built-in ladder, and a large share of the LPNs working in Pompano Beach today are already climbing it. LPN to RN bridge programs exist precisely because your practical nursing coursework and clinical hours carry real weight: LPN-to-ADN tracks grant advanced standing credit, so you enter the associate degree sequence partway through rather than starting from scratch.
The Two-Stage Route
Most Broward nurses take the same two steps. First, an LPN-to-ADN bridge at a community or state college in the region, typically completed while working, which qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX-RN. Second, an RN-to-BSN completion program, which Florida's public universities commonly offer fully online and part-time for working RNs. Splitting it this way means you are licensed as an RN (and earning RN wages) before you ever start the bachelor's coursework.
Why the Math Works
Registered nurse wages in the Fort Lauderdale metro run substantially above LPN wages for the same shift, the same units, and often the same patients. That gap is the entire reason so many students treat the LPN as step one on the LPN career path rather than a destination. The certificate gets you employed and paid quickly; the bridge converts that experience into a bigger paycheck.
Start Now, Not Later
While you are still in your practical nursing program, knock out the general education and science prerequisites bridges require: anatomy and physiology, microbiology, English composition, and college algebra. Students who arrive at a bridge with those finished shorten their timeline considerably.
Then do three concrete things: confirm the bridge program holds Florida Board of Nursing approval, find the next cohort application deadline, and price it against the grant and workforce funding options covered earlier.
