Enrollment is rising in all nursing school programs except in research-focused doctorates, and master’s programs are the only ones to see a decline in applications, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing found.
The AACN’s 45th annual survey compiled data on student enrollment and graduations, faculty and dean demographics, applications received and qualified applications turned away. The report contains data from 998 schools of nursing, according to a May 7 association news release.
“Strategies to expand the nursing student population and address the ongoing nursing shortage are showing promising results,” Deborah Trautman, PhD, RN, AACN president and CEO, said in the release. “Though this is welcomed news, AACN is concerned that efforts to curtail federal support for nursing schools and graduate education may reverse these positive trends.”
Here are eight things to know.
1. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree was offered at 892 colleges and universities and saw a 7.6% increase, or 19,830 students, last year. This is the third year that enrollment has increased. Currently, there are a total of 283,303 students enrolled in entry-level BSN programs.
2. Following a five-year decline, the number of students in RN to BSN degree-completion programs has increased by 2%, or 1,830 students. Currently, 92,447 students are enrolled in the program — considerably lower than the peak of 139,587 enrolled students in 2018.
3. Nursing master’s programs saw an increase of 6.8%, or 9,276 students, last year. Currently, 669 nursing schools offer master’s programs, and 146,718 students are enrolled.
4. Doctor of Nursing Practice programs saw a 5.9% growth, or 2,488 students. This makes 22 years of consecutive enrollment expansion, going from 70 students in 2003 to 44,976 students last year. DNP programs are offered at 452 schools.
5. PhD nursing programs saw enrollment decline for the 11th year in a row, with a 3.05%, or 127 student, decrease from 2024 to 2025. Enrollment in PhD programs has decreased by 26.2% since 2013. “This downward trend is of great concern to academic nursing leaders responsible for preparing future nurse researchers, scientists, educators, and leaders,” the release said.
6. The total number of applications to all programs reached 821,491, a 92,672 application increase. By program, applications increased by 17.1% for BSN, 6% for RN to BSN, 18.1% for DNP and 50% for PhD. Only master’s programs had a drop in applications, of -0.9%.
7. Last year, 93,176 qualified applications were not accepted into schools of nursing nationwide. Within that, rejected applications included 75,255 from entry-level baccalaureate, 1,066 from RN to BSN, 6,496 from master’s, 9,859 from DNP, and 500 from PhD nursing programs. “AACN is concerned that nearly 17,000 applications were turned away from graduate programs, which limits the pool of potential nurse educators, given that most full-time teaching roles require a master’s or doctoral degree,” the release said.
8. The top barriers to accepting students were insufficient clinical placement sites, faculty, preceptors, classroom space, and budget cuts.
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