Lone Star College System officials announced this week that LSC-Kingwood and LSC-Montgomery have both received funding through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Professional Nursing Shortage Reduction Program.
LSC-Kingwood will receive $112,213 and LSC-Montgomery will receive $14,026 for fiscal year 2010.
THECB received $7.35 million in appropriations from the 81st Texas Legislature for 2010 to fund the Professional Nursing Shortage Reduction Program. The money is being distributed to the state's public and private nursing programs that show an increase in the total number of nursing graduates at the associate, baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degree level from academic year 2008 to academic year 2009.
Awards are based upon each qualifying institution's increase in graduates as a percentage share of the total increased number of graduates reported by those institutions. Each increased graduate would earn the institution up to a maximum of an $11,850 award, depending upon the number of qualifying graduates reported.
LSC-Kingwood increased its nursing enrollments by 21 percent and LSC-Montgomery increased student enrollment in nursing programs by 3 percent last fiscal year.
"The THECB Nursing Shortage Reduction Grant received by the LSCS nursing programs will have a strong, positive impact on both the number of students admitted into the programs and the retention of students already enrolled" said Gayle LoPiccolo, director, health occupations at LSCS. "This in turn will allow LSCS to help Texas' efforts to reduce the nursing shortage."
THECB requires that the funds be used on costs related to addressing the state's need for additional registered nurses which would include: enrolling additional nursing students; assisting in education, recruitment and retention of nursing faculty; encouraging innovation in the recruitment and retention of students, including the recruitment and retention of Spanish-speaking and bilingual students; and identifying, developing, or implementing innovative methods to make the most effective use of limited nursing program faculty, instructional or clinical space, and other resources.
