LVN Programs in Plano, Texas 2027
Plano sits inside one of the strongest LVN job markets in Texas, with roughly 12,590 licensed vocational nurses employed across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro and demand still rising as Collin County adds residents faster than almost any county in the state.
Licensed vocational nurse and licensed practical nurse are the same credential; Texas uses the LVN title for the role. Program choices near Plano , including LVN Programs in Garland , vary sharply in cost, admissions testing, clinical placement, and schedule flexibility, so the right pick depends on more than geography. Compare local LPN/LVN salary, NCLEX-PN pass rates, and total cost before committing.
LVN Employment Outlook and Salaries in the Plano Metro
Understanding what LVNs earn in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro gives you a concrete benchmark for evaluating tuition costs discussed later in this article. The DFW area employs roughly 12,590 LVNs, and demand continues to climb. Texas workforce projections call for 13% job growth for LVNs statewide between 2022 and 2032, fueled in part by major Plano-area employers such as Medical City Plano (which recently completed a $108 million expansion and now staffs more than 2,400 employees), Texas Health Plano, Baylor Scott & White Heart Hospital Plano, and Children's Medical Center Plano. Each of these systems actively recruits licensed vocational nurses for inpatient floors, specialty clinics, and outpatient settings across Collin County.
| Wage Measure | Dallas-Fort Worth Metro (LVN) | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 25th Percentile | $61,160 | Entry-level or less-experienced LVNs in the metro |
| Median (50th Percentile) | $64,370 | Midpoint for all DFW-area LVNs |
| Mean (Average) | $66,110 | Pulled upward by higher-paying specialty and hospital roles |
| 75th Percentile | $72,130 | Experienced LVNs or those in higher-paying settings |
| Total Metro Employment | 12,590 | Among the largest LVN workforces in Texas |
| Statewide Projected Growth (2022 to 2032) | 13.0% | Texas Workforce Commission estimate for all LVN positions |
What It Takes to Get Into an LVN Program in Texas
Collin College, the primary public LVN option within about 40 miles of Plano and one of the area's Community College Nursing Programs, sets TEAS section minimums of 60% in Reading, 60% in Math, and 50% in English Language for applicants to be considered. The program does not publish a single composite cutoff, but Texas LVN programs often look for composite scores in the 58 to 65 range depending on school and applicant pool.
Standard Texas BON Gateways
Every Texas Board of Nursing approved program starts with the same core file for LPN/LVN Program Admissions: high school diploma or GED, minimum age 16, and a clean-enough background to receive approval for clinical training. Collin requires an FBI criminal background check and, when indicated, a declaratory order review. Immunization records must document blood titers for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and hepatitis B. Collin also expects current influenza and COVID-19 vaccination when available, negative TB testing, an annual physical, and Tdap within the last 10 years. CPR certification must be the American Heart Association Professional Rescuer level, and health insurance must be maintained for the entire clinical period. Random drug screening applies at admission and throughout the program.
TEAS and Academic Expectations
Collin weights TEAS heavily: below the LPN/LVN Program Entrance Exam section minimums, an application is ineligible. Students who take prerequisites at another school cannot simply transfer into the VN program; Collin does not accept transfer students into this pathway. Prerequisite coursework includes BIOL 2404, or both BIOL 2401 and BIOL 2402, which means anatomy and physiology must be in progress or complete before applying. Some Texas programs also require medical terminology before admission, but Collin does not list it as a standalone VN prerequisite; allied health certification can be submitted as supporting material but is not required.
GPA requirements vary. Many Texas LVN programs use a 2.0 to 2.5 cumulative floor, though Collin's VN materials do not state a single published cutoff. Pre-admission interviews and essays are not the dominant filter in this region. Collin requires a VN information session before the online application but does not describe a scored interview or essay as part of VN selection.
2026-2027 Application Timing
Deadline data for the 2026-2027 VN enrollment cycle was not fully published at the time of this review. Treat dates as program-specific. Collin uses selective admission and an online application that requires the TEAS score, transcript, and optional military or allied health documentation. Because college admission does not guarantee VN program admission, students should complete the college application and the VN information session first, then monitor the nursing program's own deadlines rather than relying on a general college calendar. Rolling admissions should not be assumed. Other programs within 40 miles of Plano, including schools in Dallas, Richardson, and McKinney, may follow similar Texas Board of Nursing gateways but can set their own TEAS composites, prerequisite lists, and deadlines.
LVN Admissions Checklist
Use this checklist to stay organized as you prepare your LVN program application in the Plano area. Requirements vary by school, so confirm specifics with each admissions office.
- High school diploma or GEDObtain an official copy of your diploma or GED certificate. Some programs accept foreign equivalents evaluated by an approved credentialing agency.
- Register for and pass the TEAS examSign up for the ATI TEAS through the testing vendor or your chosen school. Most Texas LVN programs require a minimum composite score, often in the 58–62 range, though competitive programs may expect higher.
- Complete prerequisite coursesFinish any required prerequisites such as Anatomy & Physiology or basic math. Check whether your target program requires a minimum GPA in these courses.
- Obtain CPR/BLS certificationEarn a current Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers card from the American Heart Association or an equivalent approved provider.
- Gather immunization recordsCompile documentation of required vaccinations, including Hepatitis B series, MMR, Varicella, Tdap, and a current TB screening. Some schools also require a flu shot.
- Clear a background check and drug screenAuthorize a criminal background check and submit to a drug screening. Texas Board of Nursing eligibility rules apply, so disclose any prior history upfront.
- Submit your completed application with official transcriptsRequest official transcripts from all previously attended high schools and colleges. Bundle them with the finished application before the posted deadline.
- Pay the application feeFees typically range from $25 to $75 depending on the institution. Confirm accepted payment methods and whether fee waivers are available.
LVN Program Length, Schedules, and Format Options Near Plano
How long does it take to finish one of the Best LVN Programs in Texas near Plano, and can you do it while keeping a day job?
The short answer: plan for roughly 12 to 14 months in a standard full-time daytime track. If you need nights or weekends, expect closer to 14 to 20 months. The Texas Board of Nursing requires a minimum of approximately 558 supervised clinical hours for vocational nursing licensure, and those hours cannot be compressed indefinitely, so the schedule you choose directly shapes your total time to completion.
Full-Time Daytime Tracks
Most programs in the DFW area run full-time during weekday hours and graduate students in about 12 to 13 months, a timeline you can compare with the Fastest LPN/LVN Programs of 2026 list. Dallas College offers a 12-month Vocational Nursing Certificate with daytime-only classes and explicitly warns students that maintaining full-time outside employment may not be realistic.1 CTK Healthcare in Irving follows a similar 12-month, morning-and-day in-person structure. Concorde's Dallas campus runs a daytime Vocational Nursing Diploma that can be completed in as few as 13 months. Arlington Career Institute's day program also wraps up in 12 months.
Evening and Night Options
For students who work during the day, two documented options stand out. Concorde's Grand Prairie campus offers an evening and weekend track that extends the program to approximately 20 months, covering the same curriculum and clinical requirements as the daytime cohort. Arlington Career Institute runs a night vocational nursing program, accredited by the Texas Board of Nursing, with a 14-month timeline. Both tracks let you hold daytime employment, though clinical rotations may occasionally require flexibility with your work schedule.
Hybrid and Online Formats
Fully online LVN programs are not available in this area, and for good reason: the clinical hour requirements make a completely remote format impossible. Some programs incorporate online or hybrid didactic coursework, but detailed Hybrid LPN Programs offerings at specific DFW-area schools are not widely published for the current cycle. All programs require in-person attendance for skills labs and clinical rotations regardless of how lecture content is delivered.
Choosing the Right Fit
Working adults should weigh three factors: total months to completion, weekly time commitment, and commute distance. An evening or weekend track adds months to your timeline, but it preserves daytime income, which can offset the extended schedule financially. Confirm clinical scheduling with any program you are considering, because clinical shifts (often 8 to 12 hours) may fall outside your chosen track's usual time slot.
LVN Schedule Options at a Glance
Plano-area LVN programs typically offer more than one scheduling track so students can fit coursework around jobs and family obligations. The three most common formats differ in weekly time commitment, total duration, and when clinical rotations are scheduled. Here is a quick comparison to help you identify the best fit.
Tuition and Financial Aid for Plano-Area LVN Students
Tuition is simply what a school charges for the program itself, but the cost of LPN programs & schools rarely reflects what a student actually pays once grants and scholarships are applied. That gap between sticker price and net price matters more in practical nursing than almost anywhere else in higher education, because the three ranked programs near Plano sit on very different ends of the pricing spectrum.
Public vs. private pricing
Tarrant County College is the public option here, and it shows: in-state tuition runs a few thousand dollars, with a net price after aid landing around $4,300, largely because Pell Grants cover so much of the bill. Concorde Career College-Dallas and Galen College of Nursing are both private institutions, and their sticker tuition (roughly $17,000 to $25,000) plus fees pushes net price into the $30,000 to $42,000 range even after aid is factored in. Private schools often move faster and offer more flexible start dates, but that convenience carries a real cost premium.
What tuition doesn't cover
Even the published tuition number is not the full bill. Budget separately for:
- Fees and supplies: lab fees, textbooks, scrubs, a stethoscope, and clinical supplies
- Liability insurance: required before clinical rotations begin
- NCLEX-PN exam fee: about $200
- Texas BON licensure application: a separate state fee on top of testing costs
Pell Grants and other aid
Pell eligibility varies sharply by school. Around 92% of Tarrant County College students receive Pell Grants, compared to about 74% at Concorde and 66% at Galen, a reflection of both program cost and student income levels. Regardless of school, file the FAFSA first. Beyond Pell, look into institutional scholarships, the Texas Workforce Commission's Skills Development Fund, and tuition reimbursement programs offered by DFW-area hospital systems for employees pursuing LVN licensure while working.
Setting expectations
Across Texas, a full LVN program typically runs $8,000 to $20,000 or more depending on public versus private status, program length, and included supplies. Use that range, not the headline tuition figure, when comparing schools near Plano.
Total Cost of LVN School in Texas
Understanding where your money goes can help you budget effectively and target financial aid to the most expensive line items. The mid-range estimate below reflects a typical Texas LVN program at a community college or vocational school, though actual costs vary by institution.
NCLEX-PN Pass Rates and Graduate Outcomes
Choosing an LVN program based on cost or schedule alone can backfire if the school's graduates struggle to pass the licensing exam. Your first-time NCLEX-PN pass rate is the clearest single indicator of whether a program actually prepared you for practice, and a failed attempt can delay your licensure, and your paycheck, by weeks or months.
Why the Pass Rate Matters
The Texas Board of Nursing publishes first-time NCLEX-PN results for every approved LVN program. For the 2024 reporting year, the statewide first-time pass rate across all Texas LVN programs was roughly 93 percent, with 3,261 of 3,497 first-time test-takers earning a passing score. Any program you consider should meet or exceed that benchmark. A rate significantly below the state average suggests gaps in curriculum, clinical preparation, or student support.
The 80-Percent Threshold
Texas BON requires LVN programs to maintain at least an 80 percent first-time pass rate. Programs that fall short can be placed on warning, conditional approval, or probation. The Board recognizes several approval categories: Full Approval, Full with Warning, Conditional, and Initial with Warning. If a program loses its approval status while you are enrolled, you could be left scrambling to transfer credits or start over elsewhere. Before you commit tuition dollars, verify a program's current BON approval status directly on the Board's website.
Graduate Outcomes Near Plano
Among Plano-area programs tracked in our scorecard, detailed post-graduation earnings and employment data are not yet published for every school. That said, some programs do report strong outcomes. Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, TX, for instance, highlights a 100 percent licensure pass rate for its vocational nursing program, while Concorde Career College in Dallas , one of the Best LVN Programs in Dallas , notes full BON approval and integrated NCLEX-PN review in its curriculum. Galen College of Nursing in Richardson also operates an LVN track in the immediate area.
When comparing schools, ask admissions offices for the most recent first-time pass rate, not just an "overall" rate that may include repeat testers. Programs with consistently high first-time results across multiple years are generally safer bets than those that spike one year and dip the next.
How to Choose an LVN Program in the Plano Area
Five factors separate a good LVN decision from a costly mistake: Texas Board of Nursing approval, schedule fit, total cost, clinical placement sites, and NCLEX-PN pass rates. Weigh all five together rather than picking on tuition or convenience alone, since the cheapest or closest option isn't always the one that gets you licensed and hired.
Approval versus accreditation matters more than most applicants realize. Texas BON approval is non-negotiable: a graduate must have it to take the NCLEX-PN in this state, full stop. National accreditation through ACEN or ABHES is a separate layer that affects credit transfer, eligibility for certain federal aid programs, and whether a bridge program elsewhere will accept your coursework. A program can be BON-approved without national accreditation, but if you plan to move states under LPN/LVN Reciprocity or pursue an LVN to RN in Texas bridge program later, that second credential adds real portability.
Clinical Site Variety
Ask any program directly which facilities host their clinical rotations. Strong DFW-corridor programs place students across acute care, long-term care, and outpatient settings, sometimes including hospital systems like Medical City Plano or Texas Health Presbyterian, alongside skilled nursing facilities and community clinics. Rotating through varied settings before graduation builds the kind of hands-on comfort that hiring managers notice in new-grad interviews, and it helps you figure out which specialty fits you before you're job hunting.
Visit Before You Enroll
Most LVN programs in this region hold monthly open houses or info sessions, and it's worth attending in person if at all possible. Walk the skills lab, ask current students about instructor availability, and get a straight answer on clinical placement logistics, since a glossy brochure can't tell you whether a program actually runs the way it claims to.
Widen the Search Radius
Plano sits inside a dense nursing-education corridor, and a 40-mile radius pulls in McKinney, Richardson, Garland, Irving, and Fort Worth. A program in one of those cities might offer a better evening schedule, lower tuition, or shorter waitlist than anything based in Plano proper, so don't rule out a slightly longer commute if the fit is otherwise stronger.
Ranked LVN Programs Near Plano
Below are the top LVN programs serving Plano students, ranked by completion data, accreditation status, and program fit. All three campuses sit within about 40 miles of ZIP code 75093, and each one is approved to prepare students for the NCLEX-PN licensure exam.
How we ranked these
- Median debt at graduation
- Institution-wide graduation rates
- Accreditation and state approval
- Net price after financial aid
- Program fit for Plano commuters
- College Scorecard graduate earnings — collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Internal program database
- Independent editorial research
- IPEDS institutional survey data from NCES covering graduation rates, retention rates and student-faculty ratios — nces.ed.gov
Tarrant County College District
Tarrant County College delivers its vocational nursing certificate at the Trinity River Campus East health sciences hub in Fort Worth, roughly a 45-minute drive west of Plano along Interstate 30, and the program is taught entirely on campus. The average net price after grant and scholarship aid is about $4,337, the lowest of the three schools here, and the school's overall graduation rate is 34 percent. Graduates who borrowed carry median federal debt of about $9,100. TCC also runs an associate degree nursing fast track for licensed vocational nurses, so graduates can ladder toward an RN credential without leaving the campus.
- Approved by the Texas Board of Nursing
- About $5,170 in total program tuition
- 45 credit hours, awarded as a Level 2 certificate
- Reports a 100% first-time NCLEX-PN pass rate in 2023
- Offered at Trinity River Campus East in Fort Worth
- VA and military education benefits accepted
- Selective admission process
- Credits transfer toward a bachelor's degree
Licensed Practical or Vocational Nursing (LPN or LVN), Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Galen Health Institutes-Dallas
Galen Health Institutes' Dallas campus is in Richardson, about 15 to 20 minutes south of Plano on US-75, and its practical nursing diploma is taught on campus with hands-on clinical learning labs. The average net price after aid is roughly $30,998, and the school does not report an overall graduation rate. Graduates who borrowed carry median federal debt of about $24,166. Program-level earnings one and two years after completion are not yet published for this certificate. Four start dates a year and a 12-month timeline keep entry points frequent for working adults.
- 12-month program with four start dates each year
- TEAS accepted for entrance; free application with no essays
- On-campus classes with hands-on clinical learning labs
- Academic advisor, faculty advisors, and professional tutors
- Financial aid, scholarships, and grants available
- Transfer credit review can shorten the program
- Clinical partnerships provide real-world placements
- LVN-to-ADN bridge pathway for licensed graduates
Licensed Practical or Vocational Nursing (LPN or LVN), Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Concorde Career College-Dallas
Concorde Career College's Dallas campus sits on Greenville Avenue in North Dallas near Richardson and Garland, about a 20-minute drive south of Plano on US-75, with daytime classes held on campus. The average net price after aid is about $25,299 and the school's overall graduation rate is 60 percent, the highest among the three. Graduates who borrowed carry median federal debt of about $9,500, and roughly 74 percent of students receive Pell Grants. Program-level earnings one and two years after completion are not published for this diploma.
- 13-month daytime diploma, 52 semester credits
- 490 clinical hours in real healthcare settings
- 1,319 contact hours over about 50 instructional weeks
- NCLEX-PN review included in the curriculum
- Fully approved by the Texas Board of Nursing
- Financial aid and scholarships available
- Off-site clinical rotations in the Dallas area
- Evening and weekend format offered at the Grand Prairie campus
Licensed Practical or Vocational Nursing (LPN or LVN), Certificate or Diploma — On-Campus
Frequently Asked Questions About LVN Programs in Plano
Below are answers to the questions prospective LVN students in the Plano area ask most often. Where specific data points come from statewide or single-program reports, that context is noted so you can gauge how they apply to your situation.
How much does LVN school cost in Texas?
Tuition at public Texas colleges typically falls in the $4,000 to $9,000 range for in-district students. On top of that, expect roughly $1,500 to $3,500 in additional expenses for books, uniforms, immunizations, and malpractice insurance. Licensing adds about $475, including the $200 NCLEX-PN exam fee. Total out-of-pocket costs at some colleges run higher: Navarro College, for example, estimates around $12,271 for the full program.
How long does it take to complete an LVN program near Plano?
A full-time LVN program in the Plano area commonly takes about 12 months of continuous enrollment. If you choose a part-time, evening, or weekend track, plan on roughly 14 to 20 months to finish. Exact timelines vary by school, so confirm the published calendar with any program you are considering before committing.
Are there evening or part-time LVN programs near Plano?
Several schools serving the greater Plano and Dallas-Fort Worth area, including Fort Worth, TX, offer evening, weekend, or part-time scheduling options. These flexible tracks extend the program to approximately 14 to 20 months. Availability can change each enrollment cycle, so contact your target schools directly to confirm which scheduling formats are open for the upcoming start date.
Is an LVN license the same as an LPN license in Texas?
Yes. Texas uses the title Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), while most other states use Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). The credentials are functionally equivalent, and both require passing the same NCLEX-PN examination. If you relocate to another state, you will typically apply for LPN endorsement using your Texas LVN credentials, though each state board sets its own endorsement requirements.
What is the NCLEX-PN pass rate for LVN programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area?
A DFW-wide aggregate is not published as a single figure, but individual program rates are available through the Texas Board of Nursing. For context, the 2024 statewide first-time pass rate was 93.25%, well above the national average of 88.38%. Dallas College, one nearby program, reported a 90.48% first-time pass rate in 2025 (19 of 21 candidates). Check each school's published outcomes or the Best LVN Programs in Dallas 2026 guide for the most relevant comparison.
