Certified Nursing Assistant Pathway
CNAs provide basic care and help patients with activities of daily living. They work as part of a healthcare team under the supervision of licensed practical or licensed vocational nurses and registered nurses. CNAs are often the principal caregivers in nursing and residential care facilities.
The Education Fund has partnered with educational providers to offer Certified Nursing Assistant programs that prepare students for the State Exam. Education Fund-eligible members can take this entire program at no cost.
Considering a career as a Certified Nursing Assistant?
- CNA jobs are projected to grow 8 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations.
- The median annual wage for a CNA was $29,660 in May 2019. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $21,960, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $40,620.
- CNAs workers work in a variety of healthcare settings such as hospitals, nursing care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare services, assisted living facilities.
* Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Program Locations & Dates
Find your region below and click to expand and find out about start dates, program length and more:
Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and Encino
Provider: Los Angeles Skills Academy
- Classroom/Online – 60 hours of theory
- In-person clinical – 100-hour externship at Encino & Santa Fe Springs
Program Start Dates (Fast Track weekday):
- October 20, 2021 – December 15, 2021 (Long Beach/Santa Fe Springs Lab)
- November 29, 2021 – January 4, 2022 (Encino)
Program length: 22 days
Program Start Dates (Part-time Evenings):
- November 15, 2021 – January 1, 2022 (Long Beach/Santa Fe Springs Lab)
- November 29, 2021 – March 7, 2022 (Encino)
Program length: 10 weeks
Program Start Dates (Part-time Weekends):
- October 23, 2021 – January 23, 2022 (Long Beach/Santa Fe Springs Lab)
- October 23, 2021 – January 23, 2022 (Encino)
Program length: 12 weekends
Riverside
Provider: Best American Healthcare University
- Online Instruction – 60 hours (self-paced during this timeframe)
- Online clinical – 100 hours video demonstrations
- 32 hours lab: In-person lab for students to demonstrate skills conducted at Riverside location.
Program Start Dates:
- October 1 – 31, 2021
- November 1 – 30, 2021
- December 1 – 31, 2021
Program Length: 4 weeks
Oakland and Los Angeles
Provider: H&R Healthcare School
- Online Instruction (e-learning) – 60 hours of theory
- In-person clinical – 100 hour externship at Oakland and Los Angeles locations.
Program Start Dates (Evenings):
- October 20, 2021 – December 7, 2021
- November 1, 2021 – December 30, 2021
Program Start Dates (Weekends):
- October 20 – December 17, 2021
- November 1, 2021 – January 7, 2022
Program Length: 10 weeks
Northwest (Washington and Oregon)
Provider: Clackamas Community College
Nursing Assistant Certificate
Program Length: 155 hours
Program Start Dates: January 3, 2022 – March 19, 2022
Prerequisites: Placement exam scores must be at least Writing 121 and Reading 115 to be eligible to apply or an unofficial transcript indicating Writing 095 was taken with a “C” or better.
Nevada
Provider: College of Southern Nevada
Nursing Assistant Certificate
Program Length: 3-6 units
Program Start Dates: January 18, 2022 – May 15, 2022
Prerequisite: A satisfactory score on the Accuplacer Reading Placement test; or a grade of C or higher in English 100 or English 101 or English 113
Denver
Provider: Community College of Denver
Nurse Aide Certificate
Program Length: 5 units
Program Start Dates: January 18, 2022 – May 9, 2022
Prerequisites: A minimum of 89 scores in Reading and 95 scores in Sentence Skills OR received a C or better in College Composition and Reading (CCR) OR Received an 18 score for the ACT OR 470 score for the SATs.
Provider: Pima Medical Institutes
Nursing Assistant/Nurse Aide Certificate
Program Length: 125 hours
Program Start Date: October 27, 2021
Prerequisites: Complete the Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam (SLE) with a 14 score
Get started
To get started schedule an appointment with a career counselor.