In response to consecutive years of cuts and a projected cut of at least 5 percent for the coming year, the School of Nursing will cut its undergraduate enrollment by about 25 percent.
The reduction will begin with admissions for the summer session, which starts May 9.
Together, the school’s four-semester Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing and six-semester Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduate about 200 new nurses a year.
“We are committed to offering high-quality, rigorous and safe programs for entry into nursing practice at the baccalaureate and advanced practice levels,” said the school’s dean, Kristen M. Swanson, in a news release. “The budget challenges have left us little alternative but to reduce the number of students we enroll.”
The school has offered the 174 individuals whom have already applied for the May 2011 admission to the four-semester Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing the option of having their materials considered for admission to the January cohort. And the University has agreed to refund application fees to those who elect to withdraw their application.
The enrollment cut comes amid a time of increased demand for nurses — a need that has only risen with the passing of health care reform, and an aging Baby Boomer population and nursing workforce.
“Given the nursing shortage it is truly unfortunate to find ourselves reducing enrollments to the levels we realized 10 years ago,” Swanson said. “However, we cannot sacrifice the quality or safety of nursing education, so our difficult choice was to reduce the number of students.”
Without the enrollment cut, the school said it would not have been able to make adequate savings to meet the state budget cut, which could range from 5 to 15 percent.
In January, Chancellor Holden Thorp imposed a campuswide cut of 5 percent to prepare for the minimum anticipated cut, as the state braces for a $2.7 billion budget shortfall.
