Just so you all are aware of it: Binghamton University nursing school cuts staff, enrollment | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin

Though nursing is a field in high demand, reduced funding has led Binghamton University's Decker School of Nursing to cut staffing and student openings beginning in the fall.

The school of nursing will enroll about 50 fewer undergraduate students in the fall 2010 semester and will not renew 8.5 positions, half of which are full-time jobs, said university spokesman Ryan Yarosh.

"Decker School of Nursing has been very successful over the years in garnering federal grant support," he said. These reductions are a direct result of a reduction in that support, coupled with the loss of state support."

An exact amount of lost funding wasn't available Tuesday.

The Decker School's four-year undergraduate nursing program has grown increasingly popular. In 2000, the school received applications from 327 students. By 2008, the number had grown to 1,810.

"The application number goes up for Decker every year," Yarosh said.

The loss of approximately 50 positions means prospective students will face more competition to gain admission to the school. Currently, there are 446 undergraduate and 131 graduate students in the nursing school, Yarosh said.

If federal and state funding is restored in the future, the Decker School would consider expanding its undergraduate program, he said.

The announcement came only a month after BU announced a new doctoral program in nursing, scheduled to begin in the fall. The program will allow advanced practice nurses the opportunity to gain clinic and leadership experience beyond the master's degree level.

BU has said it expects to enroll about 50 students in the doctoral program -- 25 full-time and 25 part-time -- for the fall semester.

The program is designed for nurses with either master's or bachelor's degree and will offer two tracks -- nurse practitioner or clinic nurse specialist.

No new staff members are needed for the program because in the near future, many students will forgo the master's degree program for the doctoral program, the university said.

Regarding the DNP: http://www.ultimatenurse.com/forum/f...fer-dnp-80168/