Expanding opportunities for nursing students at STLCC

St. Louis Community College is known for the strength of its nursing program, and has plans to expand the program by 75% across the district over the next five years, through 2023-2024. To give some perspective, in spring 2019, the nursing program enrolled 432 students across the district.

This academic year, 2019-2020, more students were admitted to the nursing program at two campuses - STLCC-Forest Park and STLCC-Meramec. Each campus welcomed 48 students per semester, up from the previous count of 40 students per semester, which represents 20% growth.

The expansion of STLCC’s nursing program will be most noticeable in 2020-2021:

• STLCC-Florissant Valley will have two cohorts – fall 2020 and spring 2021 – and will admit 48 students per cohort for a total of 96 students per year.
• STLCC-Wildwood will have a cohort – fall 2020 – with 24 students.
• STLCC-Forest Park and STLCC-Meramec will continue with fall and spring cohorts of 48 students each.

Applications for the nursing program are being accepted for fall 2020.

There are benefits for future students to apply to STLCC’s nursing program:

• Students with prerequisites who meet the qualifications for admission can complete the nursing program in about two years.
• The cost is approximately $19,000 for two years.
• There is no deadline to apply; first-come, first-serve with applicants to fill spots.
• Students in the nursing program represent diverse backgrounds – gender, age, race, ethnicity and culture.
• STLCC nursing students have a 96% pass rate on the National Council Licensure Exam, or NCLEX.

National research data focused on health care jobs consistently notes a shortage of nurses. Locally, the College’s 2018 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report shows that the vacancy rate for nurses is 19% in the region, and 18% statewide.

By expanding the nursing program, STLCC will positively influence the health care and workforce needs of the surrounding region.