HR7279-119

What This Bill Does

The Nurse Faculty Shortage Reduction Act expands the Public Health Service Act nurse faculty program. It keeps the existing student loan fund authority and adds a demonstration program in which eligible schools of nursing receive grants to supplement salaries of eligible nursing faculty members. Applications must provide clinical nurse salary history or local clinical salary data, faculty salary data, current and projected faculty vacancies, and a plan to sustain higher salaries after the three-year grant period. Grant amounts equal the gap between clinical nurse pay and the higher of the individual faculty salary or comparable faculty average salary, and the money must be used entirely for faculty salary supplements. HHS must prioritize geographic equity, schools with the greatest need, schools serving vulnerable patient populations or health professional shortage areas, and recruitment or retention of faculty from underrepresented populations, then report to Congress after three years.

Who Benefits and How

Schools of nursing benefit from federal grants that help them compete with clinical nurse salaries and fill faculty vacancies. Eligible nursing faculty members benefit through salary supplements that reduce the financial penalty of teaching. Nursing students and applicants benefit if schools can admit more students from wait lists and train more nurses. Health systems and vulnerable patient populations benefit if more nursing faculty ultimately increases the supply of nurses. Schools serving health professional shortage areas or underrepresented communities receive priority consideration.

Who Bears the Burden and How

HHS and HRSA must design the demonstration, review detailed salary and vacancy applications, enforce the salary-maintenance condition, ensure geographic distribution, prioritize high-need schools, and report to Congress. Schools of nursing must collect salary histories, inflation-adjust data, project vacancies, describe sustainable funding sources, and maintain faculty salaries at required levels while using the grant entirely for salary supplements. Federal taxpayers bear the $15 million annual authorization for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

Key Provisions

• Establishes nurse faculty grants for accredited schools of nursing to supplement eligible faculty salaries for up to three years.
• Requires applications with clinical nurse salary data, faculty salary data, current vacancies, five-year vacancy projections, and sustainability plans.
• Directs HHS to prioritize geographic equity, high-need schools, vulnerable patient populations, shortage areas, and underrepresented faculty recruitment or retention.
• Authorizes $15 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 and requires a three-year program evaluation report to Congress.