AACN Recognizes that Nursing Education Was Spared Cuts
in the President’s FY 2007 Budget Request
Elimination of Health Profession
Programs Will Limit Access to Care
WASHINGTON, DC, February 15, 2006 –
Today, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
(AACN) announced its support for the continuation of federal
funding for nursing education included in President Bush’s
FY 2007 budget proposal. Though the president called for
the elimination of other programs that prepare health
professionals, funding for nursing was requested at the
current level ($150 million) for Nursing Workforce Development
programs (Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act).
AACN is concerned, however, that the elimination of the
other health professions education programs (Title VII)
will severely limit access to health care for underserved
populations.
“Though more federal funding is needed
to adequately address the nation’s nursing shortage,
AACN is grateful to see the president calling for investments
in nursing education despite deep cuts in other areas
of the proposed budget,” said AACN President Jean
E. Bartels. “AACN will work with our members and
policymakers on Capitol Hill to advocate for maintaining,
and hopefully increasing, the funding for Title VII and
Title VIII programs as the appropriations process moves
forward.”
Though funding for nursing would be maintained,
AACN is concerned that the Nurse Faculty Loan Program
may not be adequately funded. This loan repayment program
was created to address the growing shortage of nurse educators
needed to expand capacity in programs preparing new nurses.
According to AACN’s latest data, 32,617 qualified
students were turned away from entry-level baccalaureate
nursing programs last year due primarily to insufficient
numbers of faculty. Over 75 percent of schools surveyed
cited the faculty shortage as the primary barrier to increasing
enrollment.
“By increasing funding to prepare nurse
educators, Congress will pave the way for nursing schools
nationwide to accept more students, expand enrollments,
and graduate more entry-level nurses,” added Dr.
Bartels. “Legislators must make funding graduate
level nursing education a top priority by increasing support
for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program and endorsing new initiatives
to address this crippling shortage.”
AACN is disappointed to see essentially
level funding for agencies and programs focused on social
and biomedical research and on improving patient safety.
The FY 2007 budget request for the National Institutes
of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research and
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was proposed
at FY 2006 levels, which translates into $28.5 billion,
$137 million and $318 million, respectively. The new budget
proposal also calls for level funding ($126 million) for
the National Health Services Corps which provides scholarships
for health care providers who agree to work in underserved
rural and urban areas.
Further, the president’s proposed elimination of
programs that support the other health professions, including
medicine and allied health, will limit the availability
of health care providers and likely add to the growing
issue of health disparities. “Cutting programs that
support the health care workforce will surely diminish
access to care and deny services to vulnerable populations
in need,” said Dr. Bartels.
Specific funding levels for nursing education
programs that were proposed in the President’s FY
2007 budget are listed on AACN’s Web site at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Government/FY2007Chart.pdf.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is
the national voice for university and four-year-college
education programs in nursing. Representing more than
590 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions
nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental
advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs
work to establish quality standards for bachelor's- and
graduate-degree nursing education, assist deans and directors
to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession
to improve health care, and promote public support of
baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research,
and practice.
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