Cincinnati-area nursing schools are expanding campuses and adding flexible programs to bring more students into the profession as the region struggles to fill healthcare jobs.
Ohio was short more than 2,400 registered nurses in 2025, according to the National Center for Health Workforce, as Realm Cincinnati reported. Nationally, nurses leave the profession within their first two years at rates as high as 33 percent, according to the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.
That turnover puts pressure on schools to do more than fill seats. Between 2024 and 2025, more than 90,000 qualified nursing school applications were turned away nationwide because of operational limitations and faculty shortages, Realm Cincinnati reported.
Chamberlain University is one of the newest entrants trying to close the gap locally. The school opened its 25th campus in Kenwood and welcomed its first cohort of Bachelor of Science in Nursing students on Aug. 31.
Priya Shastri, executive campus director for Chamberlain Cincinnati, said the university chose the region after analyzing markets with the largest gaps between nurse demand and supply. Cincinnati showed a "very large gap."
"For every graduate, there are six open positions," Shastri said. "Sometimes folks understand physician shortages for obvious reasons, but nursing shortages can impact patients even more."
Chamberlain describes its model as providing academic and student support from enrollment through graduation, according to the university. The Cincinnati campus offers evening and weekend classes, six start dates per year and no prerequisite coursework. Once built out, the Kenwood location will hold about 460 students.
"The majority of the workforce tends to be younger, newer mothers coming back into the workforce wanting a career, so the idea is to be flexible so we can cater to everyone," Shastri told Realm Cincinnati.
The school is not the only program expanding. The University of Cincinnati's College of Nursing announced a $105 million renovation to move into a modernized Holmes Hospital facility. Dean Alicia Ribar told Realm Cincinnati the college increased enrollment by 112 percent over two years, adding about 125 students. UC expects fall 2026 first-year enrollment to grow by roughly a third.
Chamberlain also announced a $150,000, three-year partnership with The Health Collaborative to fund healthcare career exploration at Cincinnati youth centers, according to a Chamberlain newsroom post. That program targets middle and high school students who have not yet considered nursing.
Chamberlain President Amelia Manning said the campus opening is about expanding access. "Cincinnati has no shortage of amazing talent capable of becoming extraordinary nurses. What has been lacking is access," Manning said in the newsroom post.
The BSN program is a three-year track. Students train first in the campus's simulation center before moving into clinical rotations with regional health systems.
