Gov. Ron DeSantis announced more than $20 million in LINE (Linking Industry to Nursing Education) funding to support nursing education, including scholarships, and workforce needs during a press conference at St. Petersburg College's Caruth Health Education Center this week.
Specifically, the funding includes $14.5 million to state colleges and private postsecondary institutions and $6 million to state universities.
"These investments are directly addressing the nationwide nursing shortage by supporting scholarships for nursing students and expanding access to state-of-the-art simulation and instructional equipment," DeSantis wrote.
Under Gov. DeSantis, Florida has awarded $85 million through the LINE program, including $61.5 million to state colleges and private postsecondary institutions, and $24 million to State University System institutions since 2022.
Along with LINE, the state has also awarded $400 million in PIPELINE (Prepping Institutions, Programs, Employers, and Learners through Incentives for Nursing Education) funds to postsecondary institutions, including $240 million for state colleges and districts and $160 million for state universities.
Overall, both initiatives have totaled $485 million since their inception.
"If you look at what we've done in both of these programs, we're now producing a thousand-plus additional nurses than we were before those every year between our state colleges and our state universities," DeSantis said at the press conference. "That's a meaningful increase."
Florida Commissioner of Education Stasi Kamoutsas also praised the new investment for state nurses at the announcement.
"I'm so thankful that this investment is going specifically towards the nursing programs, to be able to beef up those programs to be able to give those students an opportunity not just to see value in themselves, but to give back to their communities," Kamoustas said. "This investment is going to specifically impact 20 of our 28 state colleges, who will receive funding that will reinforce the critical role that our state colleges play as the backbone of our workforce education here in the state," he added.
