Best Licensed Practical programs in South Dakota, ranked by enrollment
Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse.
5 schools in South Dakota run programs that feed this job, graduating 255 people a year. The job pays a median of $52,750 in South Dakota across about 2,050 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in South Dakota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in South Dakota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in South Dakota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own South Dakota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.3901In South Dakota → | 255 | 100.0% | 5 | $44,377 | $15,018 |
Top 5 schools in South Dakota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 5 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southeast Technical College Sioux Falls, SD Public · 1 feeder programs | 127 | Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training | $38,446 | 59% | — | — |
| 2 | Western Dakota Technical College Rapid City, SD Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training | $43,884 | 54% | — | — |
| 3 | Lake Area Technical College Watertown, SD Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training | $42,160 | 73% | — | — |
| 4 | Mitchell Technical College Mitchell, SD Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training | $38,287 | 76% | — | — |
| 5 | Sinte Gleska University Mission, SD Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training | — | 15% | — | — |
All 5 schools in South Dakota
Every school in South Dakota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Technical College | Sioux Falls | Public | 127 | 1 |
| Western Dakota Technical College | Rapid City | Public | 55 | 1 |
| Lake Area Technical College | Watertown | Public | 51 | 1 |
| Mitchell Technical College | Mitchell | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Sinte Gleska University | Mission | Public | 6 | 1 |
What licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses earn in South Dakota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $64,400. South Dakota pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in South Dakota
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses page.
How to become a Licensed Practical
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in South Dakota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.3901Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training
- 51.3999Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses programs in South Dakota.
What degree do you need to become a Licensed Practical?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training, which awarded 255 degrees in South Dakota in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Licensed Practical?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Practical Nursing. Together they graduate about 255 people a year in South Dakota.
How much do licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses earn in South Dakota?+
The median is $52,750 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.1% below the U.S. median of $64,400. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses growing?+
BLS projects a +2.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 54,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in South Dakota?+
5 institutions in South Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Charge Nurse, Clinic Nurse, Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Pediatric LPN (Pediatric Licensed Practical Nurse) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2061.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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