WCU’s new nursing program set to launch next year

GUNNISON, Colo. (KREX) — Western Colorado University, in the small town of Gunnison, Colorado, has been serving students for more than a century.

Now, a new program sits on the horizon – a full Nursing Bachelor’s Degree.

Western Colorado University president Brad Baca tells Western Slope Now he’s excited to finally have the means to launch this program which has been in the works for years – the college recently received a seed grant from the State of Colorado to essentially stand up the program and begin to offer courses.

Health professions advisor Emily Mcmahill says this 1.5-million-dollar grant will be used to hopefully open the program in the fall of next year, though that may be an ambitious goal.

Western Colorado University has always had a pre-nursing program in biology, but students will soon be able to complete all four years of their bachelor’s in nursing here.

Baca tells Western Slope Now, in the long run, tuition income from nursing students will fund the program.

Western Colorado University will work closely with Gunnison Valley Health, which is right next to the campus, as well as hospitals in Montrose and Salida.

Both Baca and Mcmahill tell Western Slope Now with this new program, anything is pulse-ible.

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