City Colleges of Chicago to establish full nursing program on the South Side
Two local higher education institutions, City Colleges of Chicago and the University of Chicago, said Tuesday they will invest in new learning facilities on the South Side, launching a plan to bring health-care-related educational opportunities and jobs to area residents.
City Colleges of Chicago will open a full nursing program at Kennedy-King College in the Englewood neighborhood, with programs for an associate’s degree in nursing, a license in practical nursing, a basic nursing assistant’s program and general education courses.
The new nursing programs at Kennedy-King College are expected to create a path for roughly 50 basic nursing assistant students by fall, 50 future associate degree earners in nursing and 10 licensed practical nurse future degree earners in 2027, and 100 degree-seeking students per year in 2028 and thereafter. This expansion will return a full nursing pathway to Kennedy-King College.
In addition, a partnership between the community college system and the University of Chicago will allow for the first clinical lab tech program in Chicago, bringing with it about 600 jobs, the schools said Tuesday in a release.
City Colleges and the University of Chicago will build two new learning facilities in the Washington Park neighborhood — the UChicago Medicine Clinical Labs and the Malcolm X College Learning Center — to accommodate the program, where nursing students can complete clinical rotations and lab techs can aid the hospital in cancer diagnostic needs.
The facilities will be built between the CTA Green Line Garfield Boulevard station and South Martin Luther King Drive. Construction on the two facilities is expected to break ground in 2025 and open during the 2026-27 academic year. The opening will coincide with a cancer pavilion set to be in operation in 2027.
The Malcolm X College Learning Center will cost $40 million to build on land owned by the CTA, a school spokesperson said. Once built, the center will serve up to 800 students.
The UChicago Medicine Clinical Labs will be built on land owned by the University of Chicago and bring approximately 550 jobs to the neighborhood, according to the release. Cost estimates to build the UChicago facility were not immediately known Tuesday evening.
City Colleges will also partner with Chicago Public Schools in the area to create a pipeline to health care education and professions, according to the release.
