Nursing in Utah Valley: The Schools, the Licenses, the Hospitals, and What CNAs, LPNs, RNs and NPs Earn Here

Elly Giordano Contributing Writer, Provo.com How we make Provo.com

Nursing in Utah Valley is a ladder with four rungs you can see from the ground: certified nursing assistant, licensed practical nurse, registered nurse and nurse practitioner. Each has a local school, a state license or certification, and a pay level that the federal government measures for the Provo-Orem-Lehi metro area. This guide lays out each rung, the programs that train for it here, how licensing works in Utah, and where the jobs are.

If you are already licensed and want the employer side, read our broader healthcare jobs guide, which covers non-nursing roles too. This page is for people deciding whether and how to become a nurse here, or moving here as one.

The ladder, with local pay

All figures are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT metro area, the most recent release available in October 2026.

The spread matters as much as the median. For RNs, BLS puts the 10th percentile at $70,670 and the 90th at $106,330. For LPNs, $44,310 to $76,730. For nursing assistants, $34,860 to $45,290. New graduates usually start toward the lower end; night shifts, specialty units and experience move people up.

One thing the table shows: the metro employs about fifteen RNs for every LPN. LPN work exists, but in Utah County it is a stepping stone more than a destination, which is why the LPN-to-RN pathway below matters.

Rung 1: Certified nursing assistant

Where to train: Mountainland Technical College (MTECH) runs a Nursing Assistant program at its Lehi, Provo, Payson and Heber Valley locations. MTECH says the course combines classroom work, lab practice and 24 hours of hands-on clinical experience, covers infection prevention, body mechanics, residents' rights and communication, and includes First Aid and CPR certification. Graduates are eligible to take the state certification exams in knowledge and skills.

Who can enroll: minimum age 16; high school students must be juniors or seniors. Registration opens on MTECH's registration system and stays open until classes fill.

Why it matters even if you aim higher: BYU's nursing application page says healthcare experience counts in admissions, ideally six months, though it does not have to be CNA work. Many nursing students work as CNAs while they finish prerequisites.

Rung 2: Licensed practical nurse

Where to train: MTECH's Practical Nursing program. MTECH says graduates receive a certificate of completion and are prepared to take the NCLEX-PN and work as LPNs, under the direction of registered nurses, physician assistants, doctors and dentists.

Applying: it is application-based with two windows posted on MTECH's page:

• Spring window: 8 a.m. on the third Monday of May to 5 p.m. on the fourth Monday of June, with interviews afterward and a mandatory orientation (listed for Tuesday, June 30, 9 a.m. to noon).
• Fall window: 8 a.m. on the third Monday of October to 5 p.m. on the third Monday of November. In 2026 that is October 19 to November 16.

Minimum age 18; high school students are not eligible. MTECH posts completion, placement and licensure pass data for fiscal year 2025 on the program page, and offers a self-assessment of the job's realities before you apply.

The bridge. UVU and MTECH have built a pathway from MTECH's LPN program into UVU's Associate in Science in Nursing. UVU says spots are limited: first priority goes to current MTECH LPN graduates, second to previous MTECH graduates, and other LPNs may apply without a guaranteed place.

Rung 3: Registered nurse

Two local universities prepare RNs, by different routes.

BYU College of Nursing (Provo)

• Degree: Bachelor of Science in Nursing, accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. BYU says all BSN graduates are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN.
• Admission: competitive and holistic. BYU's application page lists academic performance, healthcare experience, interviews, a résumé (employment, community service, extracurriculars, awards), recommendations and the rest of the application. Applicants need at least 25 credit hours including prerequisites and no more than 60 BYU graded credit hours, all prerequisites at C or better (a C-minus does not count), and an ACT, SAT or TOEFL on file.
• Recommendations are online forms, not letters, and BYU says they should not come from family, close friends, roommates or church leaders.
• Missions: BYU asks students planning a full-time mission to apply after they return; deferring more than a semester can trigger a competency test.
• Cohort size: a College of Nursing news story describes a new cohort of sixty-four undergraduates beginning the program.
• Admission is for BYU students, so the first step is admission to BYU itself.

UVU Department of Nursing (Orem)

• Associate in Science in Nursing (ASN): prepares students to become RNs. UVU says graduates are eligible to take the NCLEX-RN and can move into UVU's BSN completion program.
• BSN completion: for ASN-prepared nurses, adding leadership, genomics, global health and research. UVU's page notes that national nursing bodies such as the American Nurses Association favor the BSN as the entry point to the profession.
• The workload: UVU calls the program rigorous and time intensive with fixed lecture, lab and clinical schedules. It recommends not working during the program if you can avoid it, and choosing flexible employment if you must.
• Immunizations: UVU and its clinical sites require verified immunizations and tests before registration.
• Results: UVU says its students have met or outpaced national and state NCLEX-RN pass rates for a decade, and posts pass rates, graduation rates and employment rates as PDFs on its nursing page.

Which route?

BYU's route is a bachelor's degree from the start, and you must first be admitted to BYU. UVU's route is an associate degree that qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX-RN, with the BSN completion program added after. For the wider landscape of colleges and trade schools, see trade and tech schools in Utah Valley and other colleges around Utah Valley.

Rung 4: Nurse practitioner

BYU's College of Nursing lists a Master's FNP (family nurse practitioner) program among its graduate offerings. NPs are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), licensed by DOPL, and DOPL issues a separate APRN license with controlled substance authority. The metro's NP median was $133,860 in May 2025, per BLS.

Licensing in Utah

• Who: the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) licenses RNs, LPNs and APRNs. Its nursing page links to applications, renewals, NCLEX pass rates by school, and the Nurse Licensure Compact rules.
• The exam: RN and LPN candidates take the NCLEX after an approved program.
• The compact: Utah belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact, in Utah Code Title 58, Chapter 31e (Nurse Licensure Compact, Revised), in effect since July 20, 2017. DOPL's nursing page links to the compact rules; check them before you move here on another state's license.
• Scam warning: DOPL's nursing page warns of fraudulent letters and calls, some bearing the DOPL logo, threatening to suspend licenses over fake drug allegations. DOPL says to verify by calling 801-530-6628 directly.
• Fingerprints: DOPL is discontinuing in-house fingerprinting; applicants who need a background check follow its fingerprint-card instructions.

Nursing assistants are certified by state exam; MTECH says its graduates are eligible to take both the knowledge and skills exams.

Where nurses work here

The county's hospitals, each with its own guide on Provo.com:

• Utah Valley Hospital, Provo (Intermountain), the region's flagship and Level II trauma center.
• American Fork Hospital (Intermountain), with a Level II NICU.
• Orem Community Hospital (Intermountain), centered on births and rehab.
• Spanish Fork Hospital (Intermountain), opened in 2021.
• Timpanogos Regional Hospital, Orem (MountainStar/HCA), with a Level III NICU and a PICU. Its awards page lists Magnet recognition for nursing for 2021 to 2024.
• Holy Cross Hospital–Mountain Point, Lehi (CommonSpirit).

Intermountain Health is Utah's largest employer: the Department of Workforce Services ranks "Intermountain Health Care" first in its 2024 statewide list, at 20,000-plus employees. Beyond hospitals, nurses work in clinics, urgent cares, schools, long-term care, home health and behavioral health. Our urgent care map shows the walk-in clinic networks that hire RNs and medical assistants.

Fairs and first jobs

UVU's Career and Internship Center runs a Health Professions Career Fair each fall and spring semester, focused on nursing, PA and respiratory therapy positions. BYU's Career Services posts fairs on its employer page. Our job fair calendar has the dates that were published in October 2026.

Elly Giordano

Contributing Writer

Elly Giordano is a contributing writer at Provo.com covering outdoor recreation, health and wellness, and Utah Valley's growing food and drink scene. She is an avid hiker and trail runner who knows the Wasatch foothills well, and she reads and reviews every guide on her beat before it is published. When she's not on the trails, she's on the volleyball court, where she plays setter for her college team.

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