Best ADN Programs in Illinois for 2026

Lake Land College's Associate Degree Nurse (AAS.ADN) program in Mattoon runs three years and combines laboratory skill-building with hands-on clinical rotations. The program is ACEN-accredited and has operated under faculty who have been preparing students for licensure for more than 30 years. An LPN-to-RN track is available for working practical nurses who want to bridge to full RN status. Admission is selective: a required nursing entrance exam is offered on the first Friday of September through December, and all prerequisites must be cleared before the application deadline. Upon graduation, students are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN and earn the same RN license as a four-year BSN graduate.

In-state tuition is $7,332 per year, among the lowest in Illinois. The reported graduation rate is 58%, reflecting the selective admission standards and clinical rigor common to ACEN-accredited programs. Lake Land holds articulation agreements with several Illinois universities, allowing graduates to complete an online RN-to-BSN while already working as a licensed RN. That pathway addresses the BSN-preference policies at Magnet hospitals without requiring four years upfront. The program's Hakia Score of 85.7 places it first among Illinois ADN programs in this ranking, driven by cost efficiency, institutional accreditation, and graduate outcome data reported by the college.

Illinois Eastern Community Colleges (IECC) offers its Associate Degree in Nursing across four campuses: Frontier Community College, Lincoln Trail College, Olney Central College, and Wabash Valley College. That geographic spread gives students in a wide band of rural southern Illinois a realistic commute to in-person clinical rotations, which are required, no prelicensure ADN can be completed fully online. The program is ACEN-accredited and approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. A distinctive option is the Practical Nursing Certificate exit: between the first and second year, students may complete a summer course and sit for the NCLEX-PN, earning an LPN credential without leaving the ADN program. Graduates of the full ADN sequence qualify to sit for the NCLEX-RN.

In-state tuition is $9,750 per year, and the graduation rate is 63%, the highest among the four programs in this ranking. No first-time NCLEX pass rate is published on the program page, so that figure is not reported here. Admit rate data are not available for this program. The Hakia Score of 85.5 places IECC second in this ranking. The multi-campus model and the mid-program LPN exit make it a strong fit for students who want geographic flexibility or who need an earn-while-you-learn option: pass the NCLEX-PN after year one, work as an LPN, then return to finish the RN credential.

William Rainey Harper College in Palatine offers a 68-credit-hour Associate in Applied Science in Nursing (AAS-RN) designed as a two-year sequence. The program is ACEN-accredited and approved by the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. Clinical rotations are mandatory in person. Admission is limited-enrollment and competitive; applicants must contact the Admissions Outreach Office for current criteria. Students practice in Harper's Nursing Laboratory, described as a state-of-the-art simulated clinical environment staffed by faculty who engage in ongoing professional development. Nursing-prefix courses carry a tuition surcharge: students pay 1.5 times the standard rate for NUR courses, a cost factor to account for before enrolling.

Published in-state tuition is $9,492 per year at the standard rate, though the NUR-course surcharge raises the actual per-credit cost for clinical coursework. The graduation rate is 48%. No first-time NCLEX pass rate is stated on the program page and is not reported here. Harper's enrollment of nearly 14,000 gives it a large financial-aid infrastructure and a broad transfer network in the northern Illinois / Chicago suburb market. The Hakia Score of 84.4 ranks it third among Illinois ADN programs here. This program suits suburban Chicago-area students who want competitive clinical training and the institutional resources of a large community college, and who plan to pursue an RN-to-BSN immediately after licensure, given that Magnet-system hospitals in the Chicago metro heavily favor BSN-credentialed nurses for advancement.

Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield offers an Associate in Applied Science in Nursing that runs two years after prerequisites are met. The program is ACEN-accredited and approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Clinical experience is embedded in every ADN course: students rotate through newborn, geriatric, maternity, psychiatric, and medical-surgical settings under direct instructor supervision. Admission is selective, with two annual cycles (fall and spring), and applications are not accepted after the stated deadlines. An LPN-to-ADN Transition program is also offered for working practical nurses. Graduates sit for the NCLEX-RN and earn a full RN license identical to a BSN graduate's credential.

LLCC publishes its outcome data directly: 2024 first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate of 92%, compared to 91% nationally and 87% for Illinois. Six-month post-graduation employment stands at 96%. The 100% on-time completion rate (students finishing without stop-outs) is 56%, consistent with selective-admission community college nursing norms. In-state tuition is $6,720 per year by IPEDS data; the college notes the total estimated program cost for in-district students is approximately $15,342 for the full AAS sequence at the $287/credit-hour ADN rate. The graduation rate is 48%. Admit rate data are not available. The Hakia Score of 83.7 places LLCC fourth in this ranking, but its published NCLEX outcomes and employment rate make it the most transparently accountable program on this list, a meaningful signal for students who want verified results before enrolling.

Illinois Central College's Associate in Applied Science in Nursing runs 24 months, four semesters, and 64 credit hours at its East Peoria campus. Before nursing coursework starts, applicants must hold a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) credential — a prerequisite that puts students on the floor earlier and makes the clinical transition smoother. Campus labs use high-fidelity manikins to simulate patient care before students rotate through area healthcare facilities. Average class size is 15, which is small enough that the program explicitly cites it as a driver of student success. ACEN accredits the program; it is also approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

ICC's own published program outcomes show NCLEX-RN pass rates of 83% (2021), 68% (2022), and 93% (2023), with job placement at 100% in all three years. In-state tuition runs $10,230 per year; the program estimates an all-in cost of roughly $14,028 including supplies and fees for the full 24-month run. IPEDS data puts the institution's overall graduation rate at 49%. The program's Hakia Score of 83.4 ranks it fifth in Illinois, reflecting the strong placement record, ACEN standing, and accessible entry via community-college pricing. It suits candidates who are already CNAs or willing to earn that credential first, and who want a tight, cohort-style path to the NCLEX-RN.

Illinois Central sits in central Illinois, so clinical placements are regional rather than metro. Graduates who want to pursue employment at Magnet-designated hospitals long term will find the well-established RN-to-BSN bridge route the logical next step — but nothing about the ADN credential limits where you can be licensed or start your career. National median RN salary is $97,550 per year according to the BLS, the same benchmark regardless of whether you hold an ADN or a BSN.

Rend Lake College in Ina, Illinois offers an Associate in Applied Science in Nursing built on a concept-based curriculum that emphasizes clinical reasoning and nursing judgment over rote procedure. The 64-credit-hour program spans four semesters and requires a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) credential as a prerequisite alongside Anatomy and Physiology I and Rhetoric and Composition. Clinical hours are embedded throughout: each major content course pairs with a dedicated clinical companion course, starting with Introduction to Health Concepts in the first fall and building through Complex Health Concepts in the final spring. The college also runs short-term CNA and Practical Nursing certificate tracks, giving career-changers a sequential ladder. Nursing program applications open each October and close March 31 for the following cohort.

In-state tuition is $6,600 per year — and uniquely, Rend Lake charges the same rate regardless of residency, removing the usual out-of-state penalty. IPEDS data shows a 63% institutional graduation rate, the strongest of the four programs in this group. Rend Lake does not publish NCLEX pass rates on its program page, so that figure is not reported here. The program's Hakia Score of 83.1 places it sixth in Illinois, anchored by the low cost, the strong graduation rate, and a structured concept-based design aligned with current NCLEX Next Generation format expectations. It is a strong fit for cost-conscious students in southern Illinois and for LPNs or CNAs who want a clear, sequenced path to full RN licensure.

Small enrollment (about 2,000 students institution-wide) means the nursing cohorts are tight and advising is accessible. National median RN pay sits at $97,550 per year per the BLS — an ADN and a BSN produce the same license and the same starting wage floor.

Richland Community College in Decatur, Illinois runs a four-semester, 63-credit-hour Associate in Applied Science in Nursing program targeting a two-year completion. The curriculum covers the full scope of generalist RN practice: patient assessment and care planning, medication administration, surgical prep, and family education. ACEN accredits the program — the current accreditation decision is Continuing Accreditation with Conditions, which is publicly disclosed by ACEN and worth asking the program directly about before enrolling. The college explicitly lists transfer pathways for graduates who later pursue a BSN, making the RN-then-bridge sequence straightforward.

The headline number here is hard to ignore: a 95% NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate against a 91% national average and an 87% Illinois state average, per 2024 data published on Richland's program page. Program completion rate is 63.3% — close to the 60% IPEDS graduation rate and consistent with a selective, clinically rigorous cohort. In-state tuition is $10,380 per year; out-of-state rises to $16,650, so this is primarily a local-student play. Richland's Hakia Score of 82.0 ranks it seventh in Illinois, with the NCLEX outcome carrying significant weight. This program suits candidates in central Illinois who prioritize licensure exam performance above all else and are comfortable with a competitive admissions environment and a rigorous pass-or-repeat curriculum structure.

RNs earn a national median of $97,550 per year according to the BLS. Richland's NCLEX results suggest graduates are well-positioned to clear that first credentialing hurdle.

Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois offers an Associate in Applied Science in Nursing that prepares graduates to sit for the NCLEX-RN and enter practice as fully licensed registered nurses. Normal sits between Bloomington and the broader McLean County healthcare market, giving students access to a range of clinical placement sites. Heartland's roughly 4,855-student enrollment puts it mid-sized among Illinois community colleges, large enough to sustain robust allied health infrastructure but small enough that nursing cohorts retain hands-on faculty contact. The ADN program page did not publish NCLEX pass rates or detailed program-length figures in its most recent scrape, so those metrics are not reported here.

In-state tuition is $10,080 per year; out-of-state runs $12,600. IPEDS data puts the institutional graduation rate at 54%. Heartland's Hakia Score of 81.7 places it eighth in Illinois among ranked ADN programs, reflecting solid but not exceptional outcome data relative to peers like Richland's published NCLEX figures. The program is the right call for students based in Bloomington-Normal who want to minimize commute and take advantage of local clinical relationships, rather than relocating for a program with a sharper published outcome profile. As with every ADN on this list, the credential leads to the same RN license as a four-year BSN; the strategic play for long-term hospital employment is to use the ADN to start working sooner, then complete an online RN-to-BSN while employed.

National median RN salary is $97,550 per year per the BLS, a figure that reflects the license, not the degree level that produced it.

Kaskaskia College's Associate Degree in Nursing, awarded as an Associate in Applied Science, is a two-year program based at the college's Centralia campus. Clinical rotations start in the first semester across hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings, so students are in patient care environments from week one, not after a year of classroom work. The program runs four admission cycles annually (August, October, January, and March), which is uncommon at community colleges and meaningfully compresses wait times. Licensed practical nurses have a dedicated bridge pathway that can be completed in as little as one year, making this one of the more accessible LPN-to-RN options in southern Illinois.

Kaskaskia reported a 2024 NCLEX-RN pass rate of 95%, the clearest outcome signal on the page. In-state tuition is $7,050 per year, and the college publishes itemized two-year cost estimates: roughly $10,388 in year one and $7,334 in year two when lab fees, books, liability insurance, uniforms, and NCLEX fees are included. Graduation rate is 49%, typical for open-access community colleges where students balance work and family. No admit rate is published; the program uses a separate Allied Health Application with TEAS test, medical terminology, and a state-certified nurse assistant certificate as prerequisites. Hakia ranked this program 9th among Illinois ADN programs (score 81.1) on a composite of cost, outcomes, and institutional data from IPEDS. It fits students in the Metro East and rural southern Illinois who want to enter the RN workforce on a tight timeline and a community-college budget, then bridge to BSN later.

Elgin Community College's Nursing program awards an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing across four semesters of nursing coursework, plus the general education requirements for the AAS degree. The program combines simulation labs, small-group instruction, and hands-on clinical rotations at a variety of area medical facilities. Admission is selective and restricted to legal residents of Community College District 509; applicants who only work in the district do not qualify. The program is approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and holds ACEN accreditation, the national standard for associate-degree nursing programs. Students completing the degree sit for the NCLEX-RN and, upon passing, hold the same RN license as any four-year BSN graduate.

In-state tuition is $7,128 per year according to IPEDS. Graduation rate is 41%, consistent with community colleges that serve working adults and first-generation students. No admit rate is published, though the program notes selective admissions and requires attendance at an information session before applying. The NCLEX pass rate is not stated on the catalog page, so it is not reported here. National BLS data puts the median annual wage for registered nurses at $97,550, the same credential target regardless of whether a student takes the two-year or four-year route. Hakia ranked ECC 10th among Illinois ADN programs (score 79.7). With a large enrollment of over 10,000 students and more than five decades of nursing education history, ECC is a strong fit for Elgin-area residents who qualify under the district residency rule and want an accredited, community-college path to the RN credential.