Bowie State gets $2.3 million to expand nursing training, enrollment
Bowie State won more than $2.3 million to widen nursing training, part of a state push to ease Maryland hospital staffing gaps and move more students into the pipeline.
Bowie State University has won more than $2.3 million in competitive nursing grants from Maryland, money aimed at pushing more nurses into Prince George’s County hospitals and the wider state workforce. The awards, announced by the university on June 26, were administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission and the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission through Nurse Support Program II.
The funding backs five initiatives in Bowie State’s Department of Nursing. Simulation Team Staffing received $1,052,196 over five years to strengthen hands-on clinical training. The Cohen Scholars Cohort Model was awarded $995,590 over five years to provide academic and financial support for nursing students. The Nursing Education Research Consortium got $142,701 over two years to advance research and innovation in nursing education. A Student Success Resource Grant totaled $90,241 for one year to improve retention, advising and academic support, while a Professional Development Resource Grant received $49,998 for one year to support faculty growth and instructional excellence.
Dr. Monique Alston, chair of and associate professor in the Department of Nursing, called the awards “a transformative investment in Bowie State’s nursing program.” Bowie State said the grants will help expand enrollment capacity, reduce barriers to degree completion and deepen hands-on learning.
A separate Nurse Support Program II abstract lists a $2,267,404, four-year project called “Increasing the PhD Nurse Faculty Workforce,” with Dr. Jacqueline Hill as project director. That project is set to establish the university’s second PhD program in fall 2025, focused on Nursing Education, with the first PhD in Nursing Education class expected in 2029 and 20 enrollees projected to graduate by 2033. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s 2023 survey found 1,977 full-time faculty vacancies nationwide.
University of Maryland School of Nursing and Maryland Nursing Workforce Center materials show registered nurse vacancy rates in Maryland and the United States held near 8% from 2017 through 2020, then jumped sharply in 2021 to 19% in Maryland and 17% nationally, staying elevated through 2023. Bowie State’s earlier 2025 nursing grant, described by the university as the largest ever awarded to its Department of Nursing, was also aimed at increasing doctoral faculty members.
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