Nursing Workforce Development (NWD) - The Central Michigan University (CMU) Pathways to Nursing Excellence (PNE) program will increase the number of registered nurses entering the rural Michigan healthcare workforce from disadvantaged backgrounds. Operating from CMU's Mt. Pleasant campus in Isabella County — a designated rural area in central Michigan — PNE will support 32 nursing students annually (128 unduplicated students over four years) through a comprehensive systems approach integrating recruitment, financial support, academic and social support, faculty and preceptor development, and clinical partnerships in rural and medically underserved communities. NEED: Michigan faces a sustained nursing workforce crisis projected through 2034, with shortages most acute in rural areas. Nationally, rural communities face nursing shortages more than double those of metropolitan areas. Across rural Michigan, more than 2.8 million residents lack adequate access to primary care, and rural hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and county health departments struggle to recruit and retain registered nurses. Students from low-income, first-generation, rural-origin, and veteran backgrounds face documented barriers to nursing education completion: financial precarity, gaps in pre-nursing academic preparation, mental health and basic needs insecurity, and limited exposure to nursing as a career pathway. PNE addresses each of these barriers. APPROACH: PNE deploys four mutually reinforcing pillars grounded in published evidence. Pillar 1, Pipeline and Recruitment, establishes partnerships with rural mid-Michigan high schools, community-based organizations, and Mid Michigan College[KI1.1] to create sustained applicant flows from disadvantaged communities. Pillar 2, Comprehensive Student Support, provides each PNE student a $6,000 annual stipend, books and supplies, NCLEX preparation, structured tutoring, faculty and peer mentoring, mental health and counseling access, and emergency need response. Pillar 3, Faculty and Preceptor Development, recruits and retains nursing educators and clinical preceptors through stipends, professional development, and formal recognition. Pillar 4, Clinical and Community Partnerships, formalizes clinical training relationships with critical access hospitals, federally qualified health centers, county health departments, and tribal health programs in HRSA-designated rural and medically underserved areas across central Michigan. POPULATION SERVED: PNE supports nursing students from disadvantaged backgrounds, operationalized through federally recognized markers of economic, educational, and geographic disadvantage. Eligible students include those qualifying for federal need-based financial aid, first-generation college students, graduates of under-resourced high schools, students from HRSA-designated rural and medically underserved areas, veterans, and students supporting dependents while enrolled. The program serves CMU's three nursing pathways: the traditional four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, the Joint Nursing Education Pathway with Mid Michigan College, and the RN-to-BSN completion program for working registered nurses. OUTCOMES AND SIGNIFICANCE: Over four years, PNE will produce 128 unduplicated students supported, an average annual program retention rate of 88 percent or higher, an NCLEX-RN first-attempt pass rate of 88 percent or higher among PNE graduates, and at least 60 percent of PNE graduates employed in HRSA-designated rural or medically underserved areas. Independent external evaluation aligned with HHS Evaluation Policy and OMB Memorandum M-20-12 will document outcomes and identify replicable program elements. As Central Michigan University's first Nursing Workforce Development award, PNE represents a transformative federal investment in the nursing workforce capacity that rural mid-Michigan communities urgently require.
