BALTIMORE — Loyola University Maryland is the second local college to announce plans for a nursing program.
The university said Tuesday it intends to offer a bachelor's program in nursing "to help address Maryland's ongoing nursing workforce shortage." Mercy Medical Center will partner with Loyola to provide clinical placements, other resources and support.
McDaniel College in Westminster also announced earlier this summer that it will develop a bachelor's in nursing,in partnership with Carroll Hospital.
Both McDaniel and Loyola expect the programs to be available to students in 2024 or 2025. Loyola's program is awaiting approval from the Maryland Higher Education Commission; McDaniel's is waiting to be approved by the Maryland Board of Nursing.
Maryland is projected to have a shortfall of 13,800 registered nurses by 2035, according to a Maryland Hospital Assocation report, said Loyola.
Loyola president Terrence M. Sawyer cited "the critical need for new nursing graduates in Maryland" as a reason for the program. McDaniel provost Flavius Lilly likewise said earlier that the college hopes "to meet community need" and is partnering with Carroll Hospital "to better understand exactly what that need is."
He pointed out that the hospital has an almost steady need for nurses, as "at any given time [it has] dozens of nursing openings."
Sawyer said Loyola's bachelor's program would feature "a special commitment to underserved, marginalized communities in Baltimore." About 70 percent of Loyola undergraduates come from out of state, and the university says it enrolls about 600 pre-health students each year.
