ALBANY, NY – The State University of New York today announced that more than $1.4 million has been awarded from its Nursing Emergency Training Fund to expand campus healthcare degree programs for students interested in pursuing a nursing career. This is the fund’s second investment in less than 12 months, and part of an effort to meet Governor Kathy Hochul’s goal of growing the state’s healthcare workforce by 20 percent over the next five years.
In May, SUNY announced that more than $3.2 million was awarded to 16 campuses to help increase nursing program enrollment capacity. Including this second round of funding, SUNY projects a total of 2,500 spots will be created for prospective students.
“Nurses are essential to ensuring and safeguarding the health and welfare of all New Yorkers, but the profession is facing a significant labor shortage—particularly in the aftermath of the Covid crisis,” SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said. “SUNY campuses are working to make it easier for more students to pursue this noble profession, and these awards will help make that goal a reality. I extend my congratulations to our campus awardees for developing crucial initiatives to bolster their enrollment capacity, and I thank the Governor and legislators for investing in SUNY and making essential opportunities like this possible for our students and the next generation of healthcare heroes.”
Senator Toby Ann Stavisky said, “There is no question that nurses were indispensable during the pandemic. However, there is also no doubt that we face an acute shortage of nurses. The Nursing Emergency Training Fund will provide funding to train New York students for in-demand jobs in the nursing field. With most institutions of higher education facing declining enrollment, SUNY will use this money to expand enrollment and help establish New York’s higher education system as a leader in this demanding and important field.”
Assemblymember Patricia Fahy said, “New York will need to hire more than 30,000 nurses over the next 10 years just to fill current vacancies in our healthcare workforce. I commend the campuses who’ve worked to create solutions to address the nursing shortage and bolster enrollment at their institutions. Enabling more students to achieve their dreams of achieving a college degree and working in the healthcare field is a win-win and I thank Governor Hochul and Chancellor King for recognizing this need, addressing the nursing shortage crisis, and investing in the future of our workforce and higher education institutions.”
All SUNY campuses with nursing programs were eligible to submit proposals for one-time grants of up to $250,000 from the SUNY Nursing Emergency Training Fund. The winning proposals included plans to expand the number of spaces available in nursing programs.
Those campuses awarded today include: SUNY Brockport, Corning Community College, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, SUNY Empire State College, Jamestown Community College, Mohawk Valley Community College, SUNY Morrisville, Niagara Community College, North Country Community College, Stony Brook University, and Tompkins Cortland Community College.
Campus Expansion Examples
SUNY Empire State College has established a partnership with Nassau Community College, SUNY Orange, and CUNY Hostos Community College to increase student enrollment by creating a path from an associate degree to bachelor’s degree. These partnerships are expected to increase student enrollment in SUNY Empire’s registered nurse (RN) to a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree transfer program, and allow students the option to seamlessly transfer to SUNY Empire once they obtain their associate degree. The partnership allows students to transfer 63 credits earned from their previous campus to SUNY Empire, reducing the time to earn a degree.
Stony Brook University has partnered with Dutchess Community College and Fulton Montgomery Community College, using its “NursingFirst” Program with Suffolk County Community College as a model. The partnerships offer joint admissions programs that allow selected students who are accepted into designated community college RN programs to be simultaneously accepted into Stony Brook University’s BSN program. Students accepted into the program will complete their first two years of study at their community college and then transfer seamlessly to Stony Brook University to complete their degree in nursing.
SUNY Brockport will expand its partnership with a rural federally funded health center (FFHC) to increase the number of clinical placements available to family nurse practitioner (FNP) and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) students. The college will offer an additional track in the DNP program for those who wish to become adult geriatric nurse practitioners and shift a pediatric clinical course to the summer to facilitate additional pediatric placements and a faster time to degree completion.
About The State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory.
In total, SUNY serves about 1.3 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2022, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit www.suny.edu.
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