FSC and PCC team up for nursing

By: Jake Price

Posted: 3/27/09

Jake Price

Staff Writer

Florida Southern College and Polk Community College are teaming up to meet a demand for nursing across the state.

Planning for the new nursing dual-enrollment program has been in development for about a year now and FSC president, Dr. Anne Kerr, has been working with the PCC president, Eileen Holden, to make the final adjustments.

"The entire Florida Southern community is delighted to partner with Polk Community College to offer this distinctive program that will help more students achieve their dreams of earning a bachelor of science degree in nursing and strengthen healthcare delivery throughout our region and the state," Kerr said.

Holden said, "This is a wonderful partnership for both institutions, our students and the healthcare community."

Lee Mayhall, vice president of college relations at FSC, said that this program will make a big difference for nursing students.

"This program came about as a result of Florida legislature urging private colleges to offer four-year nursing degree programs to help with the shortage of nurses in the state," Mayhall said. "Research has shown that the more BSN's in a hospital, the better the health-care for patients."

This program is the first partnership of a liberal arts college and a community college in the state.

The students of PCC are able to work towards the program now by earning their associates of nursing degree at PCC before being eligible to enroll at FSC to get their BSN.

All students in the nursing program do not have to be a part of the new program if they do not choose to. This program is for students who want to have a higher degree.

"My initial thought about the program was that it was another example of the [FSC] being innovative to meet a demand," Mayhall said.

"There are classes that PCC does not offer for a four-year program. So, to get a BSN there are classes PCC students can take here," Mayhall added.

There is an obvious difference in tuition costs between the two schools. PCC students will pay FSC's evening enrollment tuition rate, but there will be an opportunity for students to qualify for scholarships to assist with the cost.

PCC students have already begun to prepare for the program. They will be able to dual enroll at FSC beginning with the spring 2010 semester.