Simmons University Doubles Nursing Program Capacity With New State Grant

Simmons University, the Boston-based women's university known for its nursing program, is doubling the capacity of its nursing school after receiving a new state grant aimed specifically at addressing chronic healthcare staffing shortages in the city.

The grant will fund additional nursing faculty positions, new clinical simulation equipment, and scholarships for students from Boston neighborhoods where the university has traditionally drawn much of its student body. University officials said the program has consistently rejected qualified applicants in recent years due to limited faculty and clinical placement capacity rather than lack of student interest.

"We have more students who want to become nurses than we've ever had, and until now we simply couldn't accept all of them," said the dean of Simmons's School of Nursing. "This funding lets us stop turning away students who are fully capable of doing this work."

Simmons has partnered with several Boston hospital systems to expand available clinical rotation slots, a frequent bottleneck for nursing programs nationally. University officials said the expanded program is expected to graduate its first larger cohort within three years, roughly doubling annual nursing graduates.

City health officials have welcomed the expansion as a direct response to nursing shortages at Boston-area hospitals, several of which have relied heavily on traveling nurse contracts in recent years to fill staffing gaps. Simmons said its nursing graduates disproportionately remain in the Boston area to work compared with graduates of programs outside the city.