Last May, graduating nursing students walked across stages at their graduation and pinning ceremonies. Thousands of new nurses began and/or continue their careers in health care this summer.
“Nursing education will grow more than 11 percent annually over the next five years. Nursing enrollment is projected to grow at an 8.3 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 2025 to 2030,” said Brady Colby, Head of Market Research at Validated Insights.
Last year, 2,093 students graduated from Western Governors University’s nursing programs during their 100th commencement class.
“During some of the speeches, they threw out some statistics,” wrote graduate Staci Hubbard. “The first was the average length to complete a degree for our class was two years and nine months... The other was that the average age of our class was 37.”
In Utah, there are over 27 different nursing programs available through higher education schools. Beyond the recently best-ranked program at the University of Utah, students may choose to attend nursing classes from one of Utah’s privately-funded or online institutions. Students may select these programs for their hybrid flexible schedules, smaller class sizes, networking opportunities, or variable tuition rates.
For example, Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Nursing program offers specialty and leadership roles in their two and four year programs. Students attend their in-person classes at their South Jordan campus.
“The goal of nursing…is a science and an art. The science is obtaining research-based nursing knowledge, judgement, and skills. The art is the establishment of a caring relationship through which nurses apply nursing knowledge, skills, and judgement in a compassionate manner,” said Roseman University’s marketing team including Rachel Thomas, director of marketing.
“BSN (bachelor of science in nursing) programs are growing while the RN (registered nurse) to BSN pipeline has been in decline,” said Reynolds. “Enrollments and applications in two-year associate degrees nursing programs are down.”
Utah offers nursing programs through (listed from least-expensive to most-expensive on average tuition costs): Davis Applied Technology College, Nightingale College, Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College, Uintah Basin Applied Technology College, Utah Tech University, Bridgerland Applied Technology College, Galen College of Nursing (Draper), Utah Valley University, Salt Lake Community College, Western Governors University, Snow College, Annie Taylor Dee School of Nursing at Weber State University, Utah State University, Mountainland Applied Technology College, Brigham Young University, Southern Utah University, Joyce University of Nursing & Health Sciences, and Westminster College.