10 Ways To Boost Nursing School Enrollment In 2026

Summary

• The primary barrier to nursing enrollment isn't a lack of interest—it's a capacity crisis. Schools reject over 80,000 qualified applicants annually due to faculty shortages and limited clinical placements.

• Key solutions involve tackling the faculty shortage with competitive pay and creating strategic partnerships with healthcare systems to expand clinical placement opportunities.

• Modernizing the curriculum for today's nursing realities and offering flexible pathways, like Accelerated BSN programs, are crucial for attracting career-changers and adult learners.

• To manage the high volume of inquiries, an AI recruitment tool like Havana can automate lead qualification 24/7, ensuring admissions teams connect with the best-fit candidates instantly.

You've seen the headlines about the nursing shortage. What you might not know is that nursing schools across America are turning away tens of thousands of qualified applicants each year. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, while applications and interest in nursing careers have surged—with total applications increasing by 46,272 to 728,819—schools rejected over 80,000 qualified candidates in recent years. This surge, while positive, can overwhelm admissions teams who must manually sift through thousands of inquiries to find the best-fit candidates.

The problem isn't a lack of interest in nursing. It's a crisis of capacity.

From the front lines, we hear the frustration. Nursing faculty positions go unfilled because, as one experienced nurse put it, "It makes negative financial sense. Hospital jobs here for nurses with 5 years of experience pay $160k+. The salary for a FT nursing instructor starts at $80k." Meanwhile, students report disconnects in their education, with one lamenting, "why did one of my instructors make me give patients back rubs. I was like look here sister I am not going to be a massage therapist…"

To genuinely boost nursing school enrollment by 2026, institutions must move beyond simple marketing tactics and address the systemic bottlenecks in faculty recruitment, clinical placements, student support, and strategic outreach.

Part 1: Solving the Core Capacity Crisis

1. Tackle the Faculty Shortage with Competitive Pathways and Pay

The faculty shortage represents the primary bottleneck to enrollment growth, with over 60% of baccalaureate nursing programs struggling to recruit faculty. Many qualified nurses with an MSN Ed would gladly teach, but as one potential educator stated plainly: "I would LOVE to go back and teach but the salary is so abysmally low, my family comes first."

What works:

• Academic-Practice Partnerships: Partner with healthcare providers to create joint appointments where nurses split time between clinical practice and teaching, allowing them to maintain competitive salaries while contributing to education.

• "Grow Your Own Faculty" Programs: Identify promising students interested in academia and offer financial support through scholarships or loan repayment in exchange for teaching commitments. Promote resources like the HRSA Nurse Faculty Loan Repayment Program to ease the financial burden of pursuing a terminal degree.

2. Expand Clinical Placements Through Strategic Incentives

A lack of clinical placement sites and qualified preceptors severely restricts program capacity. Shockingly, 90% of US nursing schools do not compensate preceptors, making recruitment challenging.

What works:

• Enhanced Preceptor Support: While direct compensation may be difficult, offer valuable non-monetary incentives such as free continuing education credits, access to university resources, formal recognition programs, and adjunct faculty status.

• Strategic Healthcare Partnerships: Forge agreements with healthcare systems that include guaranteed clinical placements as part of broader collaboration initiatives.

Part 2: Modernizing the Student Experience

3. Revamp the Curriculum for Modern Nursing Realities

Students often feel disconnected from curricula that include outdated or irrelevant tasks. One student shared a traumatic experience performing pericare: "I hated my instructor. I wanted to yell out 'do you wash yourself like that, because I sure don't'." Another admitted, "I have ptsd from being told to give back rubs." These stories highlight an urgent need for empathy and relevance in training.

What works:

• Curriculum Auditing: Systematically eliminate tasks that don't align with modern nursing roles while increasing focus on critical thinking, technology integration, and complex care management.

• Reality-Based Simulation: Ensure practicum and lab experiences simulate realistic scenarios that prepare students for actual clinical environments, not just rote tasks.

4. Create Accelerated and Flexible Program Pathways

Adult learners and career changers represent a key demographic, but they need programs that reduce time-to-degree and overall cost. The 1.6% increase in RN-to-BSN enrollment shows clear market demand for flexible, career-advancing education options.

What works:

• Accelerated BSN (ABSN) Programs: Target these to students who already hold bachelor's degrees in other fields, allowing them to complete nursing education in 12-18 months.

• Early Licensure Models: One successful model involves a New England college that partnered with local community colleges to create a program where students earn an associate's degree and can sit for the NCLEX after just three years, completing their BSN in the fourth year. This gets nurses into the workforce faster while ensuring degree completion.

5. Build Robust Mentorship and Academic Support Systems

Nursing school is notoriously difficult and emotionally taxing. One passionate candidate shared, "I wanted to be a nurse so badly in my life. However, I could not pass Chemistry so I was turned away." Such barriers needlessly filter out potentially excellent nurses.

What works:

• Proactive Mentorship Programs: Pair new students with senior students or recent alumni who can provide emotional and psychological support during challenging phases of education.

• Targeted Remedial Support: Create dedicated programs or bridge courses for students struggling with prerequisite subjects like chemistry or anatomy, preventing passionate individuals from washing out unnecessarily.

Part 3: Strategic Marketing and Partnerships for Growth

6. Forge Deep, Multi-Tiered Employer Partnerships

Employer partnerships represent one of the most effective channels for qualified lead generation, especially for RN-to-BSN programs.

What works:

• Implement a tiered partnership model:

  • Level 1 (Basic): Offer tuition discounts to employees of partner hospitals.

  • Level 2 (Enhanced): Create co-branded landing pages on partner intranets and conduct joint information sessions.

  • Level 3 (Strategic): Develop customized cohorts for specific employers, guaranteeing both a pipeline of BSN-prepared nurses for them and clinical placements for your students.

Emphasizing employer partnerships in messaging can increase qualified leads by 32%.

7. Master Outcomes-Based Storytelling in Your Marketing

Move your marketing focus from program features to career outcomes. Prospective students primarily want to know what they will achieve after graduation, not just what they'll study.

What works:

• Data-Backed Success Stories: Showcase alumni testimonials with concrete metrics on job placement rates, salary growth, and career satisfaction. Highlight positive financial outcomes, such as the 76% increase in travel nurse pay during peak demand periods, to counter narratives of low wages.

• Proven Campaign Strategies: Carlow University increased applications by 18% through a dedicated landing page and blog posts focused on their top NCLEX pass rates. Alvernia University grew traffic by 54% for their RN-to-BSN program by creating content informed by alumni interviews.

8. Implement a Data-Driven Digital Marketing Ecosystem

A sophisticated, multi-channel approach is essential to reach and convert today's prospective nursing students.

What works:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Create keyword-rich blog content addressing common questions about nursing education and careers. Implement FAQ schema to capture high-intent search queries.

• Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): A/B test landing pages to achieve benchmark conversion rates—aim for 4-6% on general pages and 8-12% on highly targeted campaign pages.

• Localized Targeting: Use precise geo-targeting in paid advertising to dominate local search for nursing programs, focusing budget on your primary service areas.

• Automated Lead Engagement: Once you generate leads through SEO and paid ads, engaging them instantly is critical. Use an AI-powered student recruitment tool like Havana to provide 24/7, multilingual communication via calls, texts, and emails. This ensures no lead goes cold, automatically qualifies candidates, and schedules appointments for your admissions team, dramatically improving efficiency and conversion rates.

Part 4: Foundational Financial and Institutional Strategies

9. Invest in Community College Pipelines to Expand Access

As one healthcare professional powerfully stated, "Universities aren't the answer to the nursing shortage. Community colleges are." They offer faster, more affordable programs with fewer barriers to entry for both students and faculty.

What works:

• Seamless Transfer Agreements: Create guaranteed pathways for community college graduates to continue into BSN programs.

• Dedicated Transfer Scholarships: Offer financial support specifically for transfer students to prevent situations where, as one student described, "they took away [grants] this last summer and I know a bunch of people who dropped from their nursing programs because they couldn't figure out a way to pay with less than 2 months' notice."

• Shared Resources: Partner with community colleges to share faculty, simulation labs, and clinical placement networks, maximizing limited resources.

10. Develop a Competitive Intelligence and Budgeting Framework

A strategic, data-informed approach to resource allocation and market positioning is essential for sustainable growth.

What works:

• Competitive Intelligence Analysis: Conduct regular market mapping to identify direct and indirect competitors, analyze their value propositions, and find your unique angle. Identify underserved student segments in your market that align with your institutional strengths.

• Program-based budgeting: Allocate marketing spend based on program needs and top-performing channels. For pre-licensure BSN programs, invest 4-6% of tuition revenue with emphasis on SEO and local paid search. For RN-to-BSN programs, allocate 8-10% with focus on employer partnerships and paid social.

Moving Forward

Boosting nursing enrollment by 2026 isn't about finding more students—they're already applying in record numbers. It's about fixing the system. The nursing schools that thrive will be those that address the deep-seated challenges of faculty pay, clinical placements, and student support.

By implementing these ten strategies, nursing programs can not only fill their classrooms but also play a critical role in solving the nation's healthcare workforce crisis. The future of nursing education lies not in competition for a limited pool of students, but in expanding capacity to welcome the many qualified candidates eager to join this essential profession.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are nursing schools rejecting so many qualified applicants?

Nursing schools are rejecting qualified applicants primarily due to a crisis of capacity, not a lack of interest. The main bottlenecks are a severe shortage of nursing faculty and a lack of available clinical placement sites, which restricts the number of students a program can effectively train.

What is the primary cause of the nursing faculty shortage?

The nursing faculty shortage is driven by uncompetitive salaries. Experienced nurses can often earn significantly more in clinical or hospital roles than they can as full-time instructors, creating a major financial disincentive to move into education. For example, a clinical nurse with five years of experience might earn over $160,000, while a faculty position may start at only $80,000.

How can nursing schools secure more clinical placements?

Schools can secure more clinical placements by building strategic partnerships with healthcare systems and enhancing support for preceptors. While direct payment to preceptors is often difficult, offering valuable incentives like free continuing education credits, adjunct faculty status, access to university resources, and formal recognition can make precepting more attractive.

What are the most effective strategies for marketing a nursing program?

The most effective marketing strategies focus on career outcomes rather than program features. This includes using data-backed success stories, alumni testimonials with concrete metrics like job placement rates and salary growth, and emphasizing employer partnerships. A data-driven digital approach combining SEO, localized paid advertising, and conversion rate optimization is also essential.

How can nursing programs attract more career changers?

Nursing programs can attract career changers by offering accelerated and flexible pathways. Accelerated BSN (ABSN) programs are particularly effective, as they allow students who already hold a bachelor's degree in another field to complete their nursing education in 12-18 months, reducing both the time and cost to enter the profession.

Why are community college partnerships so important for increasing nursing enrollment?

Community colleges are crucial because they offer faster, more affordable, and more accessible entry points into the nursing profession for a diverse range of students. By creating seamless transfer agreements, shared resources, and dedicated scholarships, four-year institutions can build a reliable pipeline of students moving from an associate's to a bachelor's degree, expanding the overall pool of BSN-prepared nurses.