Fresno State Looks Toward Doctoral Nursing Program

Colleges all over the United States are hard at work, trying to find methods to solve the problem of the country’s nursing shortage. Here in California, officials at Fresno State University are continuing to push the envelope by petitioning to offer doctoral nursing degrees, normally the jurisdiction of the UC system and now a hot-button issue.

Assembly Bill 867, which would allow the program, has cleared two Assembly committees but will face its stiffest test soon before the Appropriations Committee, which considers the budget effect of bills.

Doctoral degrees have historically been the domain of the University of California, which has closely guarded its turf. CSU broke through in 2005 when it got permission to offer professionally oriented doctoral degrees in education. California State University, Fresno, started offering these Ed.D programs in 2007.

Fresno State also partners with the University of California at San Francisco to offer a doctorate in physical therapy.

The hot-button issue is not so much with Cal States taking on the offering of doctoral degrees, but whether this will alleviate the nursing shortage problems enough to warrant funding. Officials in favor of the program, however, point to the fact that more nursing degrees will mean more nurses with a higher education, which in turn will lead to more nurses qualified to teach subsequent generations.

Tags: California, Fresno State University, nursing degrees, nursing doctorate