I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2384 
To create a pilot program to increase the number of graduate educated 
nurse faculty to meet the future need for qualified nurses, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2007 
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself and Mr. BOUSTANY) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To create a pilot program to increase the number of graduate 
educated nurse faculty to meet the future need for quali-
fied nurses, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nurse Faculty Higher 
Education Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) In their 2006–2007 survey of 722 schools 
of nursing with baccalaureate and graduate pro-
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grams, the American Association of Colleges of 
Nursing found that U.S. nursing schools turned 
away 42,866 qualified applicants. The National 
League for Nursing (NLN) released a preliminary 
report on December 9, 2005 which estimated that 
schools of nursing with entry-level baccalaureate, as-
sociate, and diploma programs were forced to reject 
more than 147,000 qualified applications for 2005.
This was an 18 percent increase over last year’s fig-
ures. 
(2) In 2006, the mean ages of doctorally pre-
pared nurse faculty holding the ranks of professor, 
associate professor, and assistant professor are 58.6, 
55.8, and 51.6 respectively. For master’s degree-pre-
pared nurse faculty, the average ages for professors, 
associate professors, and assistant professors were 
56.5, 54.8, and 50.1 years, respectively. 
(3) The average age at retirement of nurse fac-
ulty is 62.5 years and it is expected that 200 to 300 
doctorally prepared faculty will be eligible for retire-
ment each year from 2007 through 2012 just as 
more than 1 million replacement nurses will be need-
ed. 
(4) The current faculty shortage will be greatly 
compounded in the next few years by the retirement 
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of many of the current nurse faculty in the United 
States. Without sufficient nurse faculty, schools of 
nursing cannot expand enrollments, and the nursing 
shortage will continue to cripple our nation’s health 
care delivery system. 
(5) Nursing salaries for faculty are not com-
petitive when compared to similarly educated nurses 
in clinical or administrative positions, as the average 
salary of a master’s prepared nurse faculty member 
in 2005 was $66,925 compared to $84,835 for a 
master’s prepared nurse practitioner working in an 
emergency department. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 
Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new part: 
‘‘PART E—NURSE FACULTY PILOT PROJECT 
‘‘SEC. 771. PURPOSES. 
‘‘The purposes of this part are to create a pilot pro-
gram— 
‘‘(1) to provide scholarships to qualified nurses 
in pursuit of an advanced degree with the goal of be-
coming faculty members in an accredited nursing 
program; and 
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‘‘(2) to provide grants to partnerships between 
accredited schools of nursing and hospitals or health 
facilities to fund release time for qualified nurse em-
ployees, so that those employees can earn a salary 
while obtaining an advanced degree in nursing with 
the goal of becoming nurse faculty. 
‘‘SEC. 772. ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED. 
‘‘(a) COMPETITIVE GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec-
retary may, on a competitive basis, award grants to, and 
enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, 
partnerships composed of an accredited school of nursing 
at an institution of higher education and a hospital or 
health facility to establish not more than 5 pilot projects 
to enable such hospital or health facility to retain its staff 
of experienced nurses while providing a mechanism to have 
these individuals become, through an accelerated nursing 
education program, faculty members of an accredited 
school of nursing. 
‘‘(b) DURATION; EVALUATION
AND
DISSEMINA-
TION.— 
‘‘(1) DURATION.—Grants under this part shall 
be awarded for a period of 3 to 5 years. 
‘‘(2) MANDATORY EVALUATION AND DISSEMI-
NATION.—Grants under this part shall be primarily 
used for evaluation, and dissemination to other insti-
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tutions of higher education, of the information ob-
tained through the activities described in section 
771(2). 
‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS
IN MAKING AWARDS.—In 
awarding grants and entering into contracts and coopera-
tive agreements under this section, the Secretary shall 
consider the following: 
‘‘(1) GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBUTION.—Providing 
an equitable geographic distribution of such grants. 
‘‘(2) RURAL AND URBAN AREAS.—Distributing 
such grants to urban and rural areas. 
‘‘(3) RANGE AND TYPE OF INSTITUTION.—En-
suring that the activities to be assisted are developed 
for a range of types and sizes of institutions of high-
er education. 
‘‘(4) PRIOR
EXPERIENCE
OR
EXCEPTIONAL 
PROGRAMS.—Institutions of higher education with 
demonstrated prior experience in providing advanced 
nursing education programs to prepare nurses inter-
ested in pursuing a faculty role. 
‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available by 
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part 
may be used— 
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