After successful rollouts for its Lincoln and Kearney divisions, the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing now will offer twice-a-year admission at its Omaha campus, welcoming its first spring cohort of incoming nursing students in January 2026.
Applications now are open for Omaha’s spring 2026 cohort. The initial cohort will be approximately 30 students, rising to approximately 65 students as the program grows.
Dean of the UNMC College of Nursing Lepaine Sharp-McHenry, DNP, said that nursing schools across the country still are turning away a substantial number of qualified applicants due to a lack of seats to accommodate them.
“We recognize that the need for nurses in Nebraska is continuing to increase,” Dr. Sharp-McHenry said. “So this is part of our attempt to address this need.”
The first spring cohort in Lincoln, which began in January, was larger than the college had projected, and Dr. Sharp-McHenry said admissions officers are finding there is a pool of students who may lack a pre-requisite for fall enrollment but are ready by spring.
“Based on that, we determined that we want to open spring enrollment for our Omaha division in spring of 2026,” she said, adding that the college also is exploring twice-yearly admissions for its Northern Division in Norfolk.
The additional cohort, she said, eventually will increase overall enrollment in Omaha by about 30%, a not-insignificant number in a state where nurses are at a premium.
“This helps us to stay aligned with our overall goal of addressing workforce needs statewide,” Dr. Sharp-McHenry said. “Our clinical partners have told us they can accommodate students in the spring as well as the fall, so we’re responding to that need as well as supplying graduates twice a year.”
The college is continually exploring more flexible pathways for students to enter nursing programs, Dr. Sharp-McHenry said.
“This requires our clinical partners to partner with us, and they have been on board and agreed to support these initiatives to make sure we have the clinical placements in order to move to twice-a year admissions.”
“The state of Nebraska is projected to remain in a significant nursing shortage in the upcoming years,” said Julie Lazure, vice president and nurse executive at Nebraska Medicine. “Increasing the pipeline of new nursing professionals is critical to ensuring the availability of qualified nurses to meet growing health care needs of our state. Nebraska Medicine supports UNMC College of Nursing efforts by providing clinical sites for practice and allowing Nebraska Medicine nurses to serve in clinical instructor roles.”
The jump in nursing students will be significant, Dr. Sharp-McHenry said, but cautioned it would not completely meet the state’s need. “Recruiting these students is critical but retaining and graduating them is equally important,” she said.
“Our data shows that 80% of our students across all divisions stay in the state, which will be impactful, but the need for more nurses will still exist,” she said. “We are committed to constantly seek innovative ways to meet the workforce needs of our state. We’re exploring other methods and other pathways to create a more seamless process for students to matriculate into our nursing program. This is only the latest strategy of several that we are exploring.”
Request more information for all UNMC College of Nursing Divisions and cohorts here or via email.