ing leading to a master’s degree or an equiva-
lent degree; 
‘‘(B) for more than 4 fiscal years in the 
case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) 
who is enrolled in a graduate program in nurs-
ing leading to a doctoral degree or an equiva-
lent degree; 
‘‘(C) for more than 3 fiscal years in the 
case of a student described in paragraph 
(1)(B); or 
‘‘(D) for more than 2 fiscal years in the 
case of a student described in paragraph 
(1)(C). 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘eligible school of nursing’ means a school of nursing 
that— 
‘‘(1) is accredited by a nursing accrediting 
agency recognized by the Secretary of Education; 
‘‘(2) has a passage rate on the National Council 
Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not 
less than 80 percent for each of the 3 school years 
preceding submission of the grant application; and 
‘‘(3) has a graduation rate (based on the num-
ber of students in a class who graduate relative to, 
for a baccalaureate program, the number of students
who were enrolled in the class at the beginning of 
junior year or, for an associate degree program, the 
number of students who were enrolled in the class 
at the end of the first year) of not less than 80 per-
cent for each of the 3 school years preceding submis-
sion of the grant application. 
‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may award a 
grant under this section to an eligible school of nursing 
only if the school gives assurances satisfactory to the Sec-
retary that, for each school year for which the grant is 
awarded, the school will comply with the following: 
‘‘(1) The school will maintain a passage rate on 
the National Council Licensure Examination for 
Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent. 
‘‘(2) The school will maintain a graduation rate 
(as described in subsection (d)(3)) of not less than 
80 percent. 
‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
the first-year enrollment of full-time nursing stu-
dents in the school will exceed such enrollment for 
the preceding school year by 5 percent or 5 students, 
whichever is greater. 
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the 
first school year for which a school receives a grant 
under this section.
‘‘(C) With respect to any school year, the Sec-
retary may waive application of subparagraph (A) 
if— 
‘‘(i) the physical facilities at the school in-
volved limit the school from enrolling additional 
students; or 
‘‘(ii) the school has increased enrollment in 
the school (as described in subparagraph (A)) 
for each of the 2 preceding school years. 
‘‘(4) Not later than 1 year after receipt of the 
grant, the school will formulate and implement a 
plan to accomplish at least 2 of the following: 
‘‘(A) Establishing or significantly expand-
ing an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing 
program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 
to 18 months. 
‘‘(B) 
Establishing 
cooperative 
intradisciplinary education among schools of 
nursing with a view toward shared use of tech-
nological resources, including information tech-
nology. 
‘‘(C) Establishing cooperative interdiscipli-
nary training between schools of nursing and 
schools of allied health, medicine, dentistry, os-
teopathy, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, public
health, or veterinary medicine, including train-
ing for the use of the interdisciplinary team ap-
proach to the delivery of health services. 
‘‘(D) Integrating core competencies on evi-
dence-based practice, quality improvements, and 
patient-centered care. 
‘‘(E) Increasing admissions, enrollment, 
and retention of qualified individuals who are 
financially disadvantaged. 
‘‘(F) Increasing enrollment of minority and 
diverse student populations. 
‘‘(G) Increasing enrollment of new grad-
uate baccalaureate nursing students in graduate 
programs that educate nurse faculty members. 
‘‘(H) Developing post-baccalaureate resi-
dency programs to prepare nurses for practice 
in specialty areas where nursing shortages are 
most severe. 
‘‘(I) Increasing integration of geriatric con-
tent into the core curriculum. 
‘‘(J) Partnering with economically dis-
advantaged communities to provide nursing 
education.
‘‘(K) Expanding the ability of nurse man-
aged health centers to provide clinical education 
training sites to nursing students. 
‘‘(5) The school will submit an annual report to 
the Secretary that includes updated information on 
the school with respect to student enrollment, stu-
dent retention, graduation rates, passage rates on 
the National Council Licensure Examination for 
Registered Nurses, the number of graduates em-
ployed as nursing faculty or nursing care providers 
within 12 months of graduation, and the number of 
students who are accepted into graduate programs 
for further nursing education. 
‘‘(6) The school will allow the Secretary to 
make on-site inspections, and will comply with the 
Secretary’s requests for information, to determine 
the extent to which the school is complying with the 
requirements of this section. 
‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 
evaluate the results of grants under this section and sub-
mit to the Congress— 
‘‘(1) not later than 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this section, an interim report on 
such results; and
‘‘(2) not later than the end of fiscal year 2008, 
a final report on such results. 
‘‘(g) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec-
tion, a school nursing shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information and assurances as the Secretary may re-
quire. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the costs of carrying 
out this section (except the costs described in para-
graph (2)), there are authorized to be appropriated 
$75,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, $85,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2007, and $95,000,000 for fiscal year 
2008. 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—For the costs of 
administering this section, including the costs of 
evaluating the results of grants and submitting re-
ports to the Congress, there are authorized to be ap-
propriated such sums as may be necessary for each 
of fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008.’’. 
(b) GAO STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall conduct a 
study and submit a report to the Congress on ways
to increase participation in the nurse faculty profes-
sion. 
(2) CONTENTS
OF
REPORT.—The report re-
quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 
(A) A discussion of the master’s degree 
and doctoral degree programs that are success-
ful in placing graduates as faculty in schools of 
nursing. 
(B) An examination of compensation dis-
parities throughout the nursing profession and 
compensation disparities between higher edu-
cation instructional faculty generally and higher 
education instructional nursing faculty. 
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