Overcoming Obstacles to Nursing Enrollment Growth

Demand for nursing education, by both students and their prospective employers, suggests significant enrollment growth potential. Few schools have successfully maximized that potential, however, due to growth constraints. This report explores those constraints and offers eight responses to overcome these obstacles.

The challenges with nursing education

Nursing education has vexed colleges and universities for decades—despite high demand for nursing professionals and high student interest in enrolling, programs still struggle to launch and grow. The pandemic heightened nursing shortage worries; too few nurses graduated, and departures spiked due to retirement and movement into other fields. Meanwhile, qualified students are turned away from nursing programs every year given capacity limitations. In 2022, nearly 80,000 qualified nursing school applications were rejected.