Will the Nurse Faculty Loan Program Reduce the Workforce Shortage’s Bottleneck?

• Nearly 100 universities will receive Nurse Faculty Loan Program funds to provide financial assistance to nursing students who intend to become nurse educators.
• The NFLP was established in the early 2000s as part of the Public Health Service Acts.
• There are nearly 73,000 nursing instructors and teachers in a postsecondary role, as of May 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nearly 100 universities will receive federal grants — some upwards of $2.2 million — that will provide financial assistance to nursing students who intend to become nurse educators.

The funding comes from the Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP), which was established in the early 2000s through the Public Health Service Act. Its aim is to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty.

As another measure to help address the nursing workforce shortage, the program focuses on reducing the “bottlenecks” in nurse training, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). 

“Nurses are the frontline in delivering life-saving care and in keeping all of us healthy and well,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said in a 2023 announcement regarding the nursing workforce. “Today’s investments from the Health Resources and Services Administration demonstrate our ongoing commitment to supporting the nursing workforce, training and growing the next generation of nurses, creating career ladders for nurses, and recognizing the critical role nurses play in primary care, mental health care, and maternal health care.” 

What’s the Nurse Faculty Loan Program?

The NFLP’s goal is to increase nursing faculty in the United States through “providing low-interest loans” for people studying to be nurse faculty and then offer loan cancellation for those who follow through.

“In exchange for completion of up to four years of post-graduation full-time nurse faculty employment in an accredited school of nursing, graduates receive cancellation of up to 85% of the original student loan amount (plus interest thereon) as authorized by the program,” the HRSA website stated.

Nursing schools that are accredited and have an advanced education nursing program are eligible to apply. The institutions must be located in the United States or a U.S. territory. Tribes and tribal organizations also are eligible.

The University of Connecticut School of Nursing is among the most recent recipients of NFLP funds for Fiscal Year 2024, having been awarded more than $763,000. Eligible students can apply beginning this fall, according to a news release.

“The Nurse Faculty Loan Program is essential for expanding nursing training capacity,” Dr. Annette Jakubišin-Konicki, associate dean for graduate studies who is the project director, said in the release. “It supports nursing doctoral education, increasing the pool of qualified nursing faculty. By offering low-interest loans, it encourages doctorally prepared nurses to become effective faculty scholars and reduces the associated financial barriers through loan cancellation.”

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Nursing also received funds through the program. Their $108,500 “will support 10 graduate students annually who plan to work as nursing faculty upon graduation,” a news release stated.

The State of Nurse Faculty

There are nearly 73,000 nursing instructors and teachers in a postsecondary role, as of May 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of those, the majority work at a college, university, or professional school with an annual mean wage of nearly $87,000.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that in the 2023-24 academic year, more than 65,000 students were rejected from nursing schools because of an “insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints.”

Faculty age, a wave of retirements, and higher compensation in other settings were named as contributing factors to the faculty shortage.

In addition to government programs like NFLP, some states are instituting tax incentives to increase their nurse educator population, while nursing schools are forming academic-practice partnerships, according to AACN.

Nurse educators who spoke to Becker’s Hospital Review confirmed the value of academic-practice partnerships. However, Mary Ellen Glasgow, PhD, RN, dean and nursing professor at Duquesne University, also highlighted the NFLP initiative.

“We need to look at ways to pay for nurses to go back and become nurse faculty, whether it’s a nurse corps like [Health Resources and Services Administration] has, or expanding Nurse Faculty Loan repayments and ways to fund that,” Glasgow said. “I think we need to really look at the workload and then sell the role of becoming a nurse educator to other nurses. There’s such a nursing shortage, at least on the East Coast here, that some hospitals have nurse vacancies as high as 30%. We need nurse educators and nurses at the bedside. We need to look at ways to have funding from the Centers of Medicare, maybe to fund preceptors and funding for people to teach nursing students.” 

Impact of the Nurse Faculty Loan Program 

Nearly $299 million has been awarded through the NFLP since fiscal year 2008, according to HHS’s Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS).  

When broken down by funding FY, the lowest amount issued was in 2009 at $112,338, compared to 2024, which saw upwards of $25 million awarded.  

The NFLP FY 24 recipients received anywhere from $16,666 to $2.2 million, according to preliminary data.

When the University of Mobile (Alabama) School of Nursing announced in July 2023 that it had been awarded NFLP funds, Dr. Jessica Garner, the school’s graduate dean, said the program is a “great incentive” for nurses who want to become educators.

The program also has shown promise in reducing the nurse educator vacancy rate, according to an HRSA analysis of the program that looked at academic years 2015-20.

“During this five-year period, NFLP nursing faculty graduates reduced the national vacancy rate of full-time nurse faculty by almost 2%, from 9% to 7%,” the report stated. 

The Bottom Line

The Nurse Faculty Loan Program has existed for roughly 20 years with the goal of increasing the number of nurse educators in the United States. Preliminary data for Fiscal Year 2024 shows that more than $25 million was awarded. It’s also one of several methods being used to address the national nursing workforce shortage. 

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