TU again graduates prepared providers to frontlines early

December 19, 2021

As the largest provider of undergraduate health care professionals to the state, TU is truly providing leadership for the public good. As the number of cases around the country rise once again, TU has graduated nursing students early to go to the frontlines to assist with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 40 undergrads finished their coursework early and began working in health care settings in December 2021. That follows a similar number in prior terms: 66 percent of TU nursing degree recipients early in 2020. Nursing department chair Hayley Mark said at that time: “The students are ready to work now. They’re safe, and they’re competent. We would not let them exit early if we did not know they were ready.”

Towson University’s robust nursing program ensures students are prepared to pass their licensing examinations and enter the health care field when they graduate. In addition to required clinical rotations and classroom instruction, it is common for TU nursing students to get experience as nursing assistants before they graduate.

TU prepares and graduates more health care professionals than any other university in Maryland, fulfilling its role as a workforce provider in the state, where the nursing shortage has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

And TU is poised to continue to address the workforce demand.

This summer, TU broke ground on a six-story College of Health Professions building in the heart of campus, thanks to funding approved and pre-authorized by the Maryland General Assembly.

The new building will consolidate CHP’s programs, including audiology, nursing, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy and health sciences under one roof. The building is planned to open in summer 2024.

The 240,000-square-foot building is estimated to cost $175 million, representing a significant investment in Towson University’s leadership in health professions and as an anchor institution for greater Baltimore and Maryland.

“We remain steadfastly committed, in our duty as a public institution of higher education and as an anchor institution, to supporting the needs of health care professionals in our state’s hospitals, rehabilitation centers and nursing homes,” TU President Kim Schatzel said at the groundbreaking. “This pandemic has placed a white-hot spotlight on the existing and growing health care disparities in our state and in our nation.”