Lone Star College-CyFair has two of the top Texas programs for those interested in serving the community as nurses and firefighters.
This year, PracticalNursing.org ranked the Best Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN) Programs in Texas and LSC-CyFair’s nursing program was tied for first among the top 30 as well as third in the Nursing Schools Almanac ranking, while BestValueSchools.com named LSC among the top 20 for earning an associate degree in Fire Sciences.
LSC-CyFair’s Vocational Nursing program has produced almost 250 graduates since the first graduating class in 2004. Program graduates are consistently excelling on the licensing exam (NCLEX) with their pass rate being 100% the last five years. In addition, the graduation job placement rates continue to be 100%, said Mary Ann Irwin, interim nursing program director.
Students in LSC-CyFair’s full-time, one-year program learn to provide patient care in various setting. With the vocational nursing emphasis on geriatric patients, these graduates typically work in long-term care or skilled nursing facilities. The median pay for these health care workers is currently $48,820 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Even during the pandemic, LSC-CyFair nursing students graduated and began serving the community. Lilyann Luu is a 2020 graduate who is practicing as an LVN at Kelsey Seybold Woodlands and Cypress locations. Cyprian Maturu is a spring 2019 graduate who not only works at St. Luke’s in the Woodlands and Huntsville Memorial, but he is pursuing his RN degree at Angelina College.
For those who are called to serve others in the emergency services sector, LSC-CyFair will prepare students for a career as a firefighter, with a current median pay of $52,500, for an investment of approximately $2,800 tuition in the nine-month Fire Sciences degree program.
The LSC-CyFair Firefighter Certification (Fire Academy) program exceeds the training hours required by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, while crediting students with 30-semester hours of college required by many employers, said Glenn Turner, academy professor. Students are taught to adhere to attributes - a sense of duty, self-discipline, respect for others, problem solving and skill proficiency - that fire department hiring committees seek in candidates.
Fire departments employing LSC-CyFair’s program graduates can be found from College Station to Pearland and Sugar Land to Tomball. In addition, half of LSC-CyFair’s 18 skill instructors graduated from and returned to the Fire Academy program to teach the next generation of firefighters.
Even in the midst of the restrictive COVID protocols, this program had 19 graduates in June 2020, 27 in the 2020-2021 program, and currently there are 32 students in the 2021-2022 program.
For information on the Fire Academy, email Glenn.Turner@LoneStar.edu. For information on the upcoming Oct. 15 nursing program information session, email cfnursing@LoneStar.edu or call 281.290.3991. Find information on LSC-CyFair’s Late Start courses starting in October at LoneStar.edu/class-start-options.