Schwarzenegger Announces Grants to Community College Nursing Programs
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Thursday announced that $30 million in grants have been awarded to 19 community college nursing programs statewide. The grants were awarded through Schwarzenegger's Nurse Education Initiative and are intended to address the state's nursing shortage.
The grants will be distributed over the next five years through Workforce Investment Act funds administered by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
According to California Community Colleges Chancellor Mark Drummond, the state's community colleges graduated about 70% of California's registered nursing students in 2004 and the grants will increase capacity of such nursing programs by 720 nursing students soon and by 1,440 by 2010.
The grants are expected to help produce an additional 2,400 nurses by the end of the fifth year of the program.
The $30 million will be provided through three types of grants, including:
- The Fostering Student Success Grant, which provides services to identify and help students at risk of failing the nursing program or those who have failed the licensure exam;
- The Center for Nursing Expansion/Innovation Grant, which fund enrollment opportunities through faculty recruitment and retention and assists students who have failed the licensure exam; and
- The Healthy Community Forum Grant, which increases the number of clinical groups taught by faculty at community colleges to help expand registered nursing programs and assists students at risk of failing the program (Office of the Governor release, 9/22).