Faculty shortages at nursing schools across the country are limiting student capacity at a time when the need for nurses continues to grow. Budget constraints, an aging faculty, and increasing job competition from clinical sites have contributed to this emerging crisis.

To minimize the impact of faculty shortages on the nation's nursing shortage, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is leveraging its resources to secure federal funding for faculty development programs, collect data on faculty vacancy rates, identify strategies to address the shortage, and focus media attention on this important issue.

Scope of the Nursing Faculty Shortage

• According to AACN's report on 2006-2007 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, U.S. nursing schools turned away 42,866 qualified applicants to baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2006 due to an insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints. Almost three quarters (71.0%) of the nursing schools responding to the 2006 survey pointed to faculty shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into nursing programs.
• According to a Special Survey on Vacant Faculty Positions released by AACN in July 2006, a total of 637 faculty vacancies were identified at 329 nursing schools with baccalaureate and/or graduate programs across the country (55.3% response rate). Besides the vacancies, schools cited the need to create an additional 55 faculty positions to accommodate student demand. The data show a national nurse faculty vacancy rate of 7.9% which translates into approximately 1.9 faculty vacancies per school. Most of the vacancies (53.7%) were faculty positions requiring a doctoral degree.
• According to a study released by the Southern Regional Board of Education (SREB) in February 2002, a serious shortage of nurse faculty was documented in all 16 SREB states and the District of Columbia. Survey findings show that the combination of faculty vacancies (432) and newly budgeted positions (350) points to a 12% shortfall in the number of nurse educators needed. Unfilled faculty positions, resignations, projected retirements, and the shortage of students being prepared for the faculty role pose a threat to the nursing workforce over the next five years.

Factors Contributing to the Faculty Shortage

Faculty age continues to climb, narrowing the number of productive years nurse educators can teach.

According to AACN's report on 2006-2007 Salaries of Instructional and Administrative Nursing Faculty in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, the average ages of doctorally-prepared nurse faculty holding the ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor were 58.6, 55.8, and 51.6 years, respectively. For master's degree-prepared nurse faculty, the average ages for professors, associate professors, and assistant professors were 56.5, 54.8 and 50.1 years, respectively.

A wave of faculty retirements is expected across the US over the next decade.

• According to an article published in the March/April 2002 issue of Nursing Outlook titled The Shortage of Doctorally Prepared Nursing Faculty: A Dire Situation, the average age of nurse faculty at retirement is 62.5 years. With the average age of doctorally-prepared faculty currently 53.5 years, a wave of retirements is expected within the next ten years. In fact, the authors project that between 200 and 300 doctorally-prepared faculty will be eligible for retirement each year from 2003 through 2012, and between 220-280 master's- prepared nurse faculty will be eligible for retirement between 2012 and 2018.
• According to the report Oregon's Nursing Shortage: A Public Health Crisis in the Making prepared by the Northwest Health Foundation in April 2001, 41% of the faculty in baccalaureate and higher degree programs in Oregon are projected to retire by 2005 with an additional 46% projected to retire by 2010. In associate degree programs, 24% are expected to retire by 2005 with an additional 33% retiring by 2010. This retirement pattern will likely be experienced in other parts of the country as well.

Higher compensation in clinical and private-sector settings is luring current and potential nurse educators away from teaching.

According to the 2006 salary survey by The Nurse Practitioner, the average salary of a master's prepared nurse practitioner is $72,480. By contrast, AACN recently reported that master's prepared associate professors earned an annual average salary of $58,249.