A bulldog statue on Butler University’s Indianapolis campus.
Butler University is rolling out a bachelor of science in nursing program, a four-year program that marks the university’s first foray into nursing as Indiana faces a growing workforce crunch in the field.
The private school, based on the west side of Indianapolis, said Monday it will accept applications on Aug. 1 and the program will begin in fall 2025.
The Indiana Board of Nursing has accredited the university to accept 48 students a year, meaning the program will have nearly 200 students when it is fully enrolled across four years.
Butler said that Indiana needs an additional 1,300 nursing graduates each year through 2030 to keep up with workforce demands as the population ages and the need for health care grows.
Indiana has about 30 colleges and universities that offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing, including at least seven at various Indiana University campuses, according to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. Several others offer programs in licensed practical nursing and associate degree programs in nursing.
Butler University is well-known for other health care programs, including degrees in pharmacy, physician assistants and health science. But this marks the first nursing program in Butler’s 169-year history.
“We still want the small, private school feel, with a small student-faculty ratio,” Seth Carey, a registered nurse and founding director of Butler’s nursing program, told IBJ. “But we plan to grow to be able to fill the gap of all the nursing need in the Indianapolis area.”
The faculty will consist initially of three nurses, including Carey, plus staff and adjunct faculty, he said. The university has plans to expand the nursing faculty up to eight in coming years.
The school is spending about $3 million to renovate space in the Holcomb Building. The renovated space will include a clinical assessment room and a simulation lab.
“By creating a nursing program, we’re responding to a clear need for highly educated nursing talent in our state,” Robert Soltis, dean of Butler’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, said in written remarks.
Butler said it will offer students direct admission, meaning they are guaranteed a spot in nursing once they are accepted into the program. That eliminates prerequisite courses and avoids the challenge that comes with the programs that require students to apply separately to nursing later in their college career, the university said.
Tuition is $23,000 a semester before discounts, scholarships and financial aid, Carey said.
He said Butler has already had conversations with local hospital systems, including Community Health Network, Eskenazi Health and Ascension St. Vincent, which will help shape the curriculum.
Coursework will include clinical rotations across health care settings to train students to work with diverse populations, classes on how technology can be applied to better serve patients, and understanding how socioeconomic factors affect patients’ health outcomes.
Students will also experience a mix of professional immersion in health care settings and work in simulation labs to build their skills.
By John Russell, Indianapolis Business Journal
