ADN Programs in Alabama

Alabama is home to over 30 associate degree in nursing programs. Most degrees offered in Alabama are from community colleges, but there are some 4-year universities and career colleges that also offer the program.

Associate Nursing Degree (ADN) programs in Alabama take approximately two years to complete, although you may be required to take certain basic courses before you will be accepted into an Alabama ADN program. At the conclusion of an ADN course of study, you will qualify to take the national licensing exam for registered nurses and also meet other qualifications set forth by the Alabama Board of Nursing so that you can begin an exciting career as a registered nurse (RN).

How do I select an ADN program in Alabama?

A list of approved ADN programs for Alabama follows are profiled below, but if you have any questions about a particular school, the Alabama Board of Nursing will be able to tell you if the ADN program at that school is approved by it. The Alabama Board of Nursing also can provide a summary of the national RN licensing examination results for each Alabama ADN program. Next, you should decide the format in which you wish to attend a nursing program – in person or online. Alabama has ADN programs offering both options. Third, you need to consider the costs of the Alabama ADN program as well as the availability of financial aid. In Alabama, state-sponsored community colleges offering ADN degrees are required to set forth the estimated cost of the nursing program over the entire course of study, which is very helpful for financial planning purposes.

If I get certified in Alabama as an RN with an ADN degree, will I be able to get a job?

While no-one can be guaranteed a job once they finish school, persons who graduate from an Alabama ADN program and achieve their license as an RN have an excellent chance of being employed. The demand for nurses in the next eight to ten years is expected to increase by 22% – and the health care field is already experiencing a shortage of nurses.

What kind of salary might I expect to make in Alabama?

Again, no one can guarantee that a nursing graduate will make a particular salary, but a general salary range for persons with ADN qualifications who achieve their RN certification nationwide averages anywhere from approximately $44,000 up to $95,000. The median salary rate nationwide is an hourly wage of $ 31.10, which equates to a yearly salary just under $65,000. You should keep in mind that Alabama wages in all professions tend toward the lower ends of most national scales, but so does the cost of living. In addition, your level of experience as well as (for new practitioners) your grade point average can affect the salary you are offered by an Alabama healthcare facility as well. Regardless, your starting wage as an RN will be more than most jobs that can be attained with a two year degree.

Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) Training Schools: 2 Year Nursing Programs in Alabama

Alabama Southern Community College
2800 S. Alabama Avenue 30755 Hwy 43
Monroeville, AL 36460
(251) 575-3156 ext. 8285

Alabama Southern Community College (ASCC) in Monroeville, Alabama offers an Associates Degree in nursing that is approved by the Alabama Board of Nursing. Alabama Southern’s Associate Degree nursing program has two tracks: a generic track and a fast track. The fast track, which traditionally starts during the summer semester, is for licensed practical nurses and takes one year. The generic track is for beginning nurses, traditionally starts in the fall of the year, and takes two years. The NCLEX pass rate for Alabama Southern students for the past few years has ranged between 96% to 100.00 %. Last year, ASCC nursing students achieved the highest NCLEX-RN pass rates for any ADN program in Alabama.

Bevill State Community College
1411 Indiana Avenue
Jasper, AL. 35501
205-387-0511

Bevill State Community College in Jasper, Alabama offers an Associate Degree in nursing that is a five semester program, requiring 72 credits. Thirty of the credits are from general curriculum courses, and the remaining 42 credits are from nursing courses. Bevill State also has an accelerated program for LPN’s who wish to earn their Associate’s Degree called the LPN to Associates Degree Mobility track.

Bishop State Community College
Baker-Gaines Central Campus
1365 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue
Mobile, Alabama 36606
(251) 405-4400

Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Alabama offers an Associate in Applied Science Degree for persons wishing to become a registered nurse. Bishop State’s Associate Degree last five semesters, although there also is a four semester “fast track” for students who are licensed practical nurses in Alabama. Courses for both tracks are offered both during the day and at night, and during fall and spring semesters.

Calhoun Community College
Decatur Campus
6250 U.S. Highway 31 North
Tanner, Alabama 35671
(256) 306-2500

Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama offers an Associate of Applied Science Degree in nursing that is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. The program generally lasts 5 semesters. Full time students have classes at the Decatur campus 3 days a week for as many as 6 hours, and there are clinical experiences at health care facilities in the Decatur/Morgan County/Huntsville area every semester as well. Clinical experiences are schedule during the week between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Central Alabama Community College
34091 US Highway 280
Childersburg, Alabama
256-378-5576

Accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, admission to the Associate’s Degree in Nursing program at Central Alabama Community College is highly competitive. Minimum requirements for admission to the program include a Compass Reading Score of 76 or higher, an Official TEAS V (Test of Essential Academic Skills) Score, a GPA if 2.5 or higher on the last 24 semesters and eligibility for several basic courses, including ENG 101, MTH 100 and Bio 201.

Chattahoochee Valley Community College
2602 College Drive
Phenix City, Alabama 36869
(334) 291-4900

The ADN program at this school had an NCLEX pass rate of over 93% last year. Located in one of the counties that share a border with Georgia, Chattahoochee Valley Community College, along with the rest of Phenix City, runs on Eastern Time to keep its schedules in sync with the nearby city of Columbus, Georgia. This proximity to a larger city makes the career prospects for graduates of the Chattahoochee Valley nursing better than the prospects of nursing graduates at other schools in smaller towns.

Faulkner State Community College
1900 Highway 31 South
Bay Minette, Alabama 35607
(800) 231-3752

One unique program at Faulkner with respect to its nursing students is the nursing advising sessions it offers free of charge to students or potential students interested in applying for the Nursing Programs, including the AAS (Associate of Applied Science) degree designed to allow the student to take the licensing exam test. The intent behind these sessions is to give the applicant important information about the way in which admission will be determined, along with information that will help those applicants who are successfully admitted to succeed with the course curriculum.

Gadsden State Community College
1001 George Wallace Drive
Gadsden, Alabama 35903
(256) 549-8200

Gadsden State Community College is spread out among six different campuses, four of which participate in the nursing program. These four campuses are located in Etowah, Cherokee and Calhoun Counties in northeast Alabama, although student admission occurs in the fall only at the Wallace Drive Campus. The nursing program is both accredited by the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission and approved by the State Board of Nursing.

Herzing University
280 West Valley Avenue
Birmingham, Alabama 35209
(205) 916-2800

This university offers an Associate of Science degree in Nursing through a bridge program for licensed Licensed Practical Nurses to obtain the credentials they need to take the NCLEX-RN to become Registered Nurses. According to statistics compiled by the school, the available graduate employment rate for graduates in the Associate of Science bridge program is as high as 87.01%.

Jefferson Davis Community College
220 Alco Drive
Brewton, Alabama 36426
(251) 867-4832

Accredited by the National League of Nursing Accreditation Commission, this community college’s nursing program has a reputation for training excellent nurses. Its ADN program is currently over 30 years, with the program beginning in 1970-1971 and the first class graduating in 1973. Over 1200 nurses have graduated from the program. Clinicals for the Jefferson Davis nursing students are held at eight hospitals: Baptist Hospital, Sacred Heart Hospital, Santa Rosa Medical Center, West Florida Hospital, Atmore Hospital, D. W. McMillan Hospital, Jay Hospital and Westgate Village Nursing home.

Jefferson State Community College
2601 Carson Road
Birmingham, Alabama 35215
(205) 853-1200 (Weekdays)
(205) 856-7962 (Weekends)

Founded in 1965, this community college has four campuses, one in Jefferson County, one in the north part of Shelby County, one in St. Clair County and one in Chilton County. The first nursing courses were started in September of 1965 and the first graduates of the nursing program graduated in August 1967. Since the beginning of the nursing program, over 3000 students have graduated with their ADN.

Lawson State Community College
3060 Wilson Road SW
Birmingham, Alabama 35221
(205) 925-2515

This community college has one admission period for RN students each year, in the fall. There are two deadlines for applications – April, and June. Acceptance into Lawson’s nursing program is a two-part process. In the first process, the applicant is ranked against the top applicants, and if the applicant falls within the top 100, he or she is permitted to enroll into the first nursing course, HPS 103. (A student applying in April and accepted before the summer term begins will be able to take HPS 103 in the summer.) The student is not fully accepted into the nursing program, however, until he or she takes HPS 103 and receives a letter of endorsement from the HPS 103 teacher as well as a letter of endorsement from the biology teacher under whom the student studied. It is only after both letters are received, and HPS 103 is successfully completed that the student’s acceptance into the nursing program at Lawson State is complete.

Lurleen B. Wallace Community College
MacArthur Campus
Nursing Department
Post Office Drawer 910
Opp, Alabama 36467
(334) 493-3573

Located in a town whose national claim to fame is its annual rattlesnake rodeo, the nursing program, which is located at the Opp MacArthur Campus only although the college has a total of three campuses, only offers ADN degrees leading to RN certification to practicing LPNs with at least 500 hours of clinical experience and to working paramedics who have been practicing for at least 1 year.

Northeast Alabama Community College
Post Office Box 159
Rainsville, Alabama 35986
(256) 638-4417

As is true of many of the nursing programs in Alabama, entry into the NACC ADN nursing program is quite competitive. Applicants are ranked on a scale of a total of 251 points. The points are calculated based on an applicant’s grades in certain college or High School courses, The Test for Essential Academic Skills – V (TEAS –V) test and whether or not the student applying is already a NACC student. Once accepted, a student will need to obtain a grade of 75 of higher on all required nursing courses in order to remain in the program.

Northwest-Shoals Community College
2080 College Road
Phil Campbell, Alabama 35581
(256) 331-6200

When tornadoes ripped through Alabama on April 27, 2011, the small town of Phil Campbell, Alabama was one of the towns that suffered severe damage in their wake. Fortunately, the Northwest-Shoals campus was not one of the places damaged. Northwest-Shoals has two campuses, one in Phil Campbell and one in Muscle Shoals. The nursing program is housed at the Phil Campbell campus. The program is approved by the Alabama Board of Nursing, and is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.

Shelton State Community College
9500 Old Greensboro Road
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35405
(205) 391-2211

At Shelton, nursing is considered “an art, as well as a science,” and the curriculum is designed to teach both views, using a “learner-centered process” which uses both general and nursing courses as well as different teaching styles to accomplish that goal. As part of the variation in teaching styles, Shelton has a skills lab, where students can practice their nursing skills using the tools needed to practice nursing on mannequins.

Snead State Community College
Post Office Box 734
Boaz, Alabama 35957
(205) 593-5120

Snead State’s ADN program is a five semester program. Courses for nursing students include both general education courses as well as nursing courses. In addition to classroom instruction, nursing students will also study at the campus laboratory and participate in clinical work in different health care facilities. This curriculum produces well-rounded nursing students ready to pass the NCLEX-RN test and achieve their registered nursing certification.

Southern Union State Community College
1701 LaFayette Parkway
Opelika, Alabama (334) 745-6437

Southern Union was created in 1993 by the merger of two schools: Southern Union State Junior College, which had been in existence since 1922, and Opelika State Technical College. While Southern Union has three campuses, the ADN RN program is located on the campus located in Opelika, Alabama. Southern Union’s ADN program is approved by the Alabama State Board of Nursing and accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. Southern Union’s ADN RN program admits students both in the fall semester and in the spring semester.

The University of West Alabama
Station 28
Livingston, Alabama 35470
(205) 652-3517

The ADN RN program in Livingston is unique in that it is a two year six semester program held at a university where the majority of degrees are four year degrees. This enables UWA’s nursing students to have the benefits of two worlds – the university environment, and the shortened course load allowing a student to obtain the courses needed for their RN certification in two years.

Troy University
340 Montgomery Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
(334) 834-2320

Troy offers an Associate’s Degree in Science for Nursing at its Montgomery campus, although the four year Bachelor’s nursing program is located on its campus in Troy, Alabama. As part of its nursing program, Troy has funded 10 Troy Foundation Scholarships designated specifically for the school of nursing, to be divided between the ASN and BSN programs. In order for an ASN student to qualify for one of these scholarships, the student must be currently enrolled in the ASN program, must have successfully completed the first semester of the clinical nursing portion of the ASN program and achieved a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

University of Mobile
5375 College Parkway
Mobile, Alabama 36613
(251) 675-5990

Graduates of the ADN program at the University of Mobile have many career opportunities, including jobs in hospitals, physician’s offices, long-term care facilities and as a travel nurse. In order to be admitted to the ADN program, a student must have a high school GPA of at least 2.75 on a 4.0 scale, and either a minimum score of 21 on the ACT or a score in the 55th percentile on the NLN PreEntrance Exam, which is administered by the Coordinator of Admissions for the School of Nursing. If the applicant is 25 or older, they are exempt from the testing requirement, as are students who have earned 24 or more semester hours at regionally accredited colleges or universities with a GPA of 3.00 or higher. In addition, a student who has earned a bachelor’s or a master’s degree is also exempt from the test requirement. Finally, a student must file an application for clinical admission between the November 1 and April 1 preceding the fall semester during which a student wishes to enroll.

Virginia College
65 Bagby Drive
Birmingham, Alabama 35209
(205) 802-1200

This Birmingham school offers a relatively new Associate of Science in Nursing degree, and is only provisionally approved by the Alabama Board of Nursing. In addition, the first class taking the NCLEX-RN exam had only a 27.3% pass rate, which caused the ABN to issue a notice of deficiency to the school, since the ABN requires a minimum pass rate of 80%.

George C. Wallace State Community College
1141 Wallace Drive
Dothan, Alabama 36303
(334) 983-3521, Ex. 407

This college offers a two year Associate in Applied Science in Nursing degree. In addition to meet all of the college’s general admission requirements, nursing students must also have a minimum of a 2.5 cumulative GPA, for college work if the student has had previous post-secondary courses, or for high school work, if the student has not yet been to college. A student also must have a score of 78 or higher on the COMPASS Reading Examination, which will be administered by the college, or an ACT score of 17 or higher. A complete application must be submitted to the college by the deadline (the deadline changes slightly year to year, so check with the college as to exact dates). Finally, as with most nursing programs, you are ranked against the other applicants and admission is offered based on availability per your rank.

George C. Wallace State Community College
Post Office Box 2000
Hanceville, Alabama 35077-2000
(256) 352-8198

This college in the northern central part of Alabama in Cullman County has a unique pre-nursing advisory center called the ACTION center. One of its main functions is to work with each student to develop an individual education plan to help the student meet his or her goals. Given the extremely competitive nature of the ADN nursing programs, this type of early assistance to pre-nursing students is valuable. The ADN program at Hanceville is somewhat unique in Alabama, since it has both a regular campus option, and a hybrid option which combines both online and on-campus activities. In addition, a student may switch from one format to the other depending on their needs semester to semester.

George C. Wallace State Community College
Post Office Box 2530
Selma, Alabama 36702-2530
(334) 876-9271

This school has three available scholarships for nursing. The first is the A.D.N. Academic Scholarship. This scholarship will cover tuition fees and/or books for two terms. It is renewable a second year provided that the student completes the necessary courses with a grade of 75 or better, as well as a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA. The second scholarship for the ADN program is the Career Ladder Nursing scholarship. This scholarship is available to LPN’s who are accepted into the ADN mobility program track at the college. The tuition assistance scholarships are in part need-based and consist of tuition assistance in the amount of up to $500 per semester for required program expenses for an ADN student. Applications for each of these scholarships can be found on the school’s website.