Western Governors University’s (WGU) Michael O. Leavitt School of
Health (LSH), today announced the expansion of the Bachelor of
Science in Nursing (Prelicensure) program to seven new states
— Arkansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Dakota, Virginia,
West Virginia, and Wisconsin — to help students initiate their
career in the nursing industry. The accredited degree program is
now available in 24 states and counting.
Global consulting firm, McKinsey &
Company, estimates that the United States could have a
shortfall of direct patient care nurses ranging from 200,000 to
450,000 by 2025. The U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics echoes similar projections and reports that
employment opportunities for nurses will grow at nine percent,
faster than all other occupations from 2016 through 2026.
“We are expanding the BSN Prelicensure program to new states and
establishing simulation labs in strategic locations across the
country to make high-quality education accessible and attainable.
With competency-based education (CBE), we can meet students where
they are and promote workforce diversity,” said LSH Senior Vice
President and Executive Dean, Keith Smith. “This program aims to
advance health equity by adding competent professionals to the
nursing pipeline for better patient-outcomes.”
Recognizing the country’s acute nursing shortage crisis, and to
facilitate community-based employment, WGU is expanding the
Prelicensure program with an aim to add more than 3,000 new nursing
graduates to the workforce by the end of 2027. As a part of the
expansion, the university is building Clinical Learning and
Simulation Centers (commonly referred to as nursing simulation
labs) across the country and partnering with healthcare employers
in communities for training sites and clinical faculty and
staff.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
reports that more than 65,000 qualified applications (not
applicants) were turned away from schools of nursing nationwide in
2023. While AACN mentions that the students submitting these
applications may have been accepted and enrolled elsewhere, the
report emphasizes that a variety of reasons stall nurse education,
including the lack of infrastructure and faculty. WGU’s BSN
Prelicensure program is designed to add capacity and offer
flexible, affordable, and high-quality education for nursing
students.
“WGU is removing barriers and opening pathways to opportunity
for aspiring nurses via the disruptive, nontraditional CBE model.
We have highly qualified faculty and mentors who work closely with
our students to foster the development of a patient-focused
aptitude. With wraparound services and various scholarships, we try
to support our students as they endeavor to achieve their dreams of
serving the healthcare industry as well as the local community,”
said LSH Senior Associate Dean and Director of Undergraduate
Programs, Kimberly Kelly-Cortez.
With no prerequisites for enrollment, this hybrid program is
approximately 60 percent online, with the remaining 40 percent as
hands-on clinical and lab time. Students undertake clinical
training at WGU’s nursing simulation labs and complete multiple
clinical rotations in hospitals and community-based settings for
each clinical course. The completion of this program prepares
students for the registered nurse (R.N.) licensing exam, National
Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN Exam). Over the last five
years, WGU’s first-time NCLEX-RN average pass rate has been 89.21
percent, which is above the national five-year average of all BSN
programs as reported by the National Council of State Boards of
Nursing (NCSBN). The university has also been at or above the
national average for more than five years.
“I always wanted to be a nurse but enrolling in a traditional
nursing program meant that I would have to give up my job, which
wasn’t something I was ready for. But then I came across WGU and
realized that this is what I had been waiting for, an accredited
nursing degree from a university that lets me complete a major part
of the program online with an assurance that I will still be
trained on components that demand in-person learning. I am
currently in the clinical portion of the program and love my
training classes at WGU’s clinical nursing labs,” said Kayla
Stroup, a current BSN Prelicensure student from Missouri.
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing states that
approximately 100,000 R.N.s left the workforce since the COVID-19
pandemic and more than 600,000 intend to leave by 2027 because of
stress, burnout, and retirement. Because nurses are leaving the
field, increasing access, removing barriers, and expanding
innovative, high-quality health and nurse education
programs that positively impact society are prime LSH
goals.
WGU’s BSN Prelicensure program is steadily expanding throughout
the country and is also presently offered to students residing in
these 17 states: Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri,
Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Kentucky, Michigan, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The university
has three nursing simulation centers in Houston, TX, Salt Lake
City, UT, and Kansas City, MO, with additional facilities
scheduled to open next year. More than 2,500 students are currently
enrolled in this program and more than 2,000 have successfully
graduated. Click here to read about the program specifics
and for the latest information regarding program availability in
upcoming states.
About Western Governors University (WGU): A
nonprofit, online university established in 1997 by 19 U.S.
governors with a mission to expand access to high-quality,
affordable higher education, WGU now serves more
than 174,000 students nationwide and has awarded over 376,000
degrees to nearly 336,000 graduates in all 50 states. Driving
innovation as the nation’s leading competency-based university, WGU
has been recognized by the White House, state leaders, employers,
and students as a model that works in postsecondary education. In
less than 30 years, the university has become a leading influence
in changing the lives of individuals and families, and preparing
the workforce needed in today’s rapidly evolving economy. WGU is
accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and
Universities, has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative
Companies, and has been featured on NPR, NBC Nightly News and CNN
and in The New York Times. Learn more
at wgu.edu and wgu.edu/impact.
About Michael O. Leavitt School of Health
(LSH): The school, named
in honor of the former governor of Utah and former U.S.
Secretary of Health and Human Services, was established in 2006
with the mission to make a difference in the fields of healthcare,
nursing, and higher education
through competency-based education. The school conferred
5.4 percent of all bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing
across the country during the 2021-2022 academic year. According to
the Utah Foundation Research Brief, LSH represents more than
170,000 jobs in the healthcare industry and the school produced a
whopping 17 percent of the nation’s registered nurses earning a
Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2021. The school has also been
recognized for its impact by Platte County, Missouri.
With more than 100,000 graduates and over 118,000 degrees already
conferred by LSH, the school presently serves nearly 25,000
students nationwide. Learn more at Leavitt School of Health
(wgu.edu).
Anchal Nayyar
Western Governors University
385-428-4665
anchal.nayyar@wgu.edu