Catholic university in Miami plans major expansion to fill Florida’s nursing gap

CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Amid Florida’s nursing shortage, a Catholic university in the Archdiocese of Miami is expanding its nursing department following top test scores by its students.

St. Thomas University announced on Feb. 27 its plans for a 99,000-square-foot nursing college building. The archdiocesan-run university is seeking $3.5 million from the Florida Legislature to jump-start the project, which would eventually accommodate the 2,000 nursing students STU expects to have in 2026.

The university is expanding its nursing program amid Florida’s nursing gap. In 2024, Florida had the lowest scores in the nation on the National Council Licensure Examination — but in the same year, 100% of St. Thomas University’s nurses passed the exam. This was the second year in a row that the nursing program had a 100% pass rate.

The building will be home to the university’s newly created College of Nursing and College of Health Sciences and Technology, all part of an effort to close Florida’s widening nursing gap. 

Nashat Abualhaija, the dean of STU’s nursing college, noted that the project will help the state of Florida.

“Our future nursing education building and new nursing degrees will go a long way toward plugging the state’s nursing gap,” Abualhaija said in a statement. 

Henry Mack, STU’s vice president of strategy and innovation, said STU is asking the Florida Legislature for $3.5 million for operational costs to launch the nursing and STEM building.

“Legislative investments to improve private colleges benefit everyone because public universities alone can’t plug widening state and national labor gaps in critical health and STEM fields,” Mack told CNA. 

Florida’s nursing shortfall is expected to continue to worsen, according to projections by the Florida Hospital Association. But STU has projected that 2,000 students will be involved in the nursing program by spring 2026. 

Abualhaija highlighted elements of the nursing program that make it so successful.  

“St. Thomas University is leading Florida in the recruitment, retention, and professional readiness of nursing students, with a one-on-one nursing student coaching program, preparatory exit course, and higher GPA requirements for science prerequisites,” Abualhaija said in a statement. 

Abualhaija joined St. Thomas University in March 2024 and was instrumental in elevating STU’s nursing program from a department to a College of Nursing. 

The projection would make the university third in the state in terms of enrollment counts for nursing programs, after University of Central Florida College of Nursing and Galen College of Nursing. 

For Mack, $3.5 million is a great investment for Florida to make. 

“The ROI [return on investment] is obvious — a construction project potentially worth 16 times STU’s requested state appropriation, plus millions in future tax revenue and thousands of much-needed, good-paying nursing jobs for Floridians,” Mack said.

STU currently offers a bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) with two tracks as well as a bachelor’s degree in natural science. The university also provides five graduate degrees and four post-master’s degree certificates to further training for practitioners. The university has a total of 6,500 undergraduate, graduate, and dual-enrollment students.

In the upcoming fall semester, STU plans to debut an online BSN to doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree track. The program enables students with a nursing bachelor’s degree to complete a master’s degree in nursing and a doctor of nursing practice in two and a half years.

STU will also launch an 18-month master of science in nursing with a nurse executive leadership track that focuses on human resources, budgeting, and health care outcomes.

The university is currently engaged in an intentional plan for growth, designed to make STU “the great Catholic university of the South.” The university’s president, David Armstrong, views the nursing program as an integral part of this plan.

“STU’s nursing program is a model for the university’s new ‘Pursue Excellence’ strategic vision,” Armstrong said in a statement. 

“St. Thomas University is fast becoming the South’s premier Catholic university as we prepare to celebrate our 65th anniversary next year,” Armstrong said.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262687/catholic-university-in-miami-plans-major-expansion-to-fill-florida-s-nursing-gap