Report: Nursing shortage improves in Pennsylvania
Private colleges educating most of state’s nursing graduates
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State officials and healthcare industry officials have been warning for years that Pennsylvania is facing a critical shortage of nurses.
A 2021 study projected that by 2026 Pennsylvania would have the worst shortage of nurses in the country.
The problem may not have gone completely away, but the state's nursing shortage no longer seems like an inevitable crisis. At least one analysis suggests Pennsylvania will have a surplus of registered nurses by 2030.
A September 2025 report found that Pennsylvania is 12th best in the nation with a nurse-to-state population ratio of 11.23 nurses per 1,000 residents.
The state has added more than 27,000 nurses to the workforce since 2014.
Even so, the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania's 2025 workforce survey found a 19% vacancy rate for registered nurse jobs involved in direct patient care. State officials estimate that Pennsylvania needs to add almost 9,000 RNs a year to keep pace with demand.
The Association of Independent Colleges and University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday released a report examining how private colleges around the state have stepped in to fill the gaps to help aspiring healthcare professionals get the education they need to fill those jobs.
The state's 43 private colleges educate 69% of the graduates who complete four-year nursing degrees in Pennsylvania, according to the association.
The group said private colleges have embraced a number of strategies to recruit students and help them complete their degrees so they can get into the workforce.
"We needed more nurses, it's as simple as that. Two years ago, we were looking at a potentially life-threatening logistical nightmare for local hospitals. The AICUP nursing schools stepped up when Pennsylvania needed them," said AICUP President Tom Foley. "We have more work to do, but we can still take a moment to celebrate this astonishing success, and share what worked."
For example, Westminster College in Lawrence County has a program aimed at encouraging elementary and secondary students to consider becoming nurses by exposing them to typical healthcare activities, such as how to analyze heart rates with an EKG or take a blood pressure reading or determine an individual's blood type.
Nursing professors at Drexel University and Thomas Jefferson University, both in Philadelphia, volunteered with a mini nursing academy sponsored by the National Black Nurses Association to teach elementary students about making healthy lifestyle choices and consider nursing as a career.
Thomas Jefferson also offers a summer program for teens interested in nursing, and St. Joseph's Lancaster campus offers a program for high school students to allow them to explore their interest in working in healthcare fields.
Statewide initiatives
The 2026-27 state budget increased the budget adjustment factor used to calculate payments for nursing homes, a change expected to translate into an additional $162 million boost and trigger an additional $215 million in federal matching dollars.
The concerns about the looming shortage prompted the Legislature, and the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro, to respond in a number of ways as well.
The 2026-27 state budget included a $10 million boost for the Grow PA scholarship program providing financial assistance for students who pursue college degrees in high-demand fields, including nursing. With the increase, the state allocated $42.5 million for Grow PA scholarships in this fiscal year.
The program provides scholarships up to $5,000 a year to students who commit to remain in the state after graduation.
Act 47 of 2025, the update to the school code passed with the delayed 2025-26 budget, established the Pennsylvania Nursing Shortage Assistance Program to provide grants to help nurses pay off their student loans. Act 47 did not, however, provide any funding for the program.
The 2026-27 budget signed into law by Shapiro on July 12, however, included $2.5 million for nursing shortage student loan repayment grants.