Authors

  1. Section Editor(s): Pfeifer, Gail M. MA, RN

Article Content

Enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs increased by 6.1% in 2010, the tenth increase in a row, according to preliminary data from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's 2010 survey of U.S. nursing schools. Still, 52,115 qualified applicants were turned down because of shortages of faculty and clinical education sites. Master's- and doctoral-degree nursing programs also gained in enrollment, by about 10%, with the greatest growth (25.6%) occurring in doctor of nursing practice programs. From 1995 to 2000, enrollment in baccalaureate programs shrank, then soared by 17% in 2003 and has increased each year since then. In 2002 just 3,600 qualified applicants were rejected, compared with 38,415 in 2006, and now this year's record number, a figure expected to be higher when final data are released this month. The preliminary data were collected from 648 of the 807 U.S schools of nursing during the fall of 2010.