🚨 Faculty Shortage Hits Nursing Schools Hard — Here’s What It Means

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👋 Hello Nursing Advocates, Educators & Allies,

The 2025 nursing faculty shortage is a national crisis—and it's hitting nursing schools at the core. With insufficient numbers of qualified academic nurse educators (ANEs), schools are turning away thousands of qualified applicants each year. This bottleneck is shrinking the pipeline of future caregivers—exacerbating the broader RN shortage across healthcare.

📉 Why This Crisis Exists

• Faculty vacancies are high: In 2023, AACN reported about 2,000 unfilled full-time educator positions nationwide. One-third of current faculty are expected to retire by 2025.

• Pay lags behind practice: The median salary for master-prepared nurse faculty is under $94K, versus $129K+ in clinical roles — pushing potential educators away from academia.

• Enrollment decline at graduate level: 2022–2023 saw a 0.9% drop in master’s enrollment and a 3.1% drop in doctoral nursing education—further shrinking future faculty supply.

🚫 Cascading Effects on Student Intake & Program Stability

• Qualified applicants turned away: In 2023 alone, over 5,000 master’s and 4,400 doctoral program applicants were rejected—primarily due to faculty and site shortages.

• Programs scaling back or closing: In California, UC Irvine admitted only 1.1% of 5,885 freshman applicants in 2025 because resources and faculty couldn't support expansion—despite hospitals facing a workforce vacancy rate above 30%.

• State-level program rejection: Mississippi nursing programs turn away approximately 300 qualified applicants annually due to limited faculty capacity and lower pay—impacting rural healthcare access and maternal health outcomes.

🌍 System-Wide Consequences

• Slower nurse production: Fewer graduates means fewer clinicians entering the workforce—compounding national RN shortages (~78,000 FTE RN shortage by 2025).

• Lost research & innovation: Faculty vacancies limit mentorship, research leadership, and development of nurse educators who could replenish the pipeline.

• Rising barriers to diversity: Faculty shortages disproportionately impact programs serving historically underserved communities, limiting access and representation.

✅ How Can We Respond?

For Nursing Schools & Educators:

• Advocate for competitive salaries and loan forgiveness to attract and retain faculty.

• Offer flexible teaching roles (online, part-time, dual clinical-educator pathways).

• Expand partnerships with practice institutions to support preceptor models.

For Policy Advocates & Funders:

• Champion federal and state funding for graduate nursing education and educator preparation.

• Support initiatives like philanthropic expansions (e.g., Bill Conway’s $1 billion educational commitment) that fund faculty recruitment and scholarships.

• Promote public–private collaboration to elevate nursing education funding and visibility.

For Aspiring & Current Nurses:

• Consider pathways into nurse education careers—your impact can multiply beyond bedside care.

• Advocate for your education institution to prioritize faculty retention and program expansion.

🏥 What America Needs Nurses Is Doing

We support advocacy and partnerships to strengthen the faculty pipeline, including:

• Connecting schools with graduate scholarship funding.

• Supporting RN-to-educator transition pathways.

• Amplifying advocacy for fair compensation, grant access, and educator outreach.

📲 Share Your Voice

➡️ Healthcare leaders, nursing educators, and students— we want your perspective.
Have faculty shortages affected your program? What solutions are working in your community?

📧 Reply to this email or join the discussion in our Skool community.

Together, we can rebuild the pipeline—from faculty to frontlines.